In the northern district of Dinajpur, several days of continuous rain have submerged rice seedlings. To make up for their losses, farmers are cutting the seedlings and selling them at market as cattle feed.

Rice seedlings were seen on sale at Katla bazar in Birampur upazila on the afternoon of 29 September.

After days of heavy rain, seedlings in low-lying areas of Belar Par, Polikhapur, Shoilan and South Daudpur in the upazila are close to going under. The worst affected are the seedlings in the beel of South Daudpur.

Farmer Belal Hossain said: "I planted aman rice on three bighas. The land is a bit low, so it went under after a few days of rain. To make up the loss I have cut the seedlings and brought them to market to sell as cattle feed. I am selling four bundles for Tk 10. That will save me from at least part of the loss."

Rahim Uddin, who had come to buy fodder, said: "I have three cows at home. They need about Tk 200 of straw, bran and feed every day. Today I bought Tk 40 worth of rice seedlings."

Rafiqul Islam, who sells grass for a living, said: "I sell 200 bundles of grass every day. Today I brought 300 bundles of rice seedlings, and most of them sold in a short time."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.