DIPANKAR ROY, Khulna

Prolonged waterlogging in the Bhabadah region has left over 25,000 farmers unable to cultivate Boro this season, deepening food insecurity and financial distress across parts of Jashore and Khulna.

Even after the last monsoon, large areas remain submerged despite the presence of drainage infrastructure, rendering the Boro planting window ineffective, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

For farmer Prodip Mondal of Kalishakul village, the promise of recovery has turned into yet another year of loss.

His home lies within half a kilometre of a 21-vent sluice gate meant to drain at least 27 surrounding beels, yet his land remains under more than three feet of water.

Like many others, he tried to recover Aman losses by preparing a Boro seedbed on a nearby plot.

“I thought once the water receded, I would transplant the seedlings to my field, but the water never went down. I couldn’t plant a single sapling this year,” he said.

Now surviving by catching fish, he added, “I couldn’t grow Aman due to waterlogging. I hoped Boro would help me recover some losses. At least we would have rice for the year. But now I have nothing. What will we eat?”

A normal harvest of about 50 maunds would meet his four-member family’s yearly food needs. “Now I have to buy rice by selling vegetables and catching fish,” he added.

His experience reflects a wider crisis, as more than 250 families in his village alone failed to cultivate Boro this season after their Aman crops were also lost to flooding. Many who once sold surplus rice are now struggling to buy food.

Padma Rani Mondal in Monoharpur village in Monirampur, along with her husband Goutam Mondal, now relies on fish farming and cattle rearing.

They own around one and a half bighas of land in Kapalia Beel but have been unable to cultivate paddy since 2022 due to persistent waterlogging.

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