Unseasonal storms and rain days before harvest have flattened aman rice across fields in Ishwardi in Pabna and Lalpur in Natore, leaving water standing in many plots. The Ishwardi weather office recorded 113.6 millimetres of rain in the two areas from Wednesday to Friday under the influence of Cyclone Arnab. The agriculture office has advised farmers to tie up the lodged plants.
Ishwardi planted transplanted aman on 3,790 hectares this year against a target of 3,770. Upazila agriculture officer Abdul Momin said the crop had done well, with BRRI dhan 103 expected to give 20-22 maunds a bigha, but the mid-Kartik storms could cut yields by about 5 maunds a bigha.
Murad Ali Malitha, a farmer in Muladuli village, said plants with nearly ripe ears are lying in waterlogged fields and will yield four or five maunds a bigha less when cut in 10-15 days. Nazrul Islam Biswas of Baghail said rice barely pays as it is, and a loss this late in the season will be hard to recover.
Lalpur planted aman on 9,380 hectares this year with a production target of 51,215 tonnes. Upazila agriculture officer Pritam Kumar Hore said three days of continuous rain have flattened the crop on at least 150 hectares before harvesting began; the extent of the damage has not yet been assessed.
Abul Kalam of Raksha village grew rice on three bighas. About 10 kathas of it have keeled over and the field is under knee-deep water; if it does not drain quickly, he fears the fallen rice will rot.
The officer said lodged rice should come to little harm once the weather clears, but farmers will lose out if the water does not drain quickly. The weather office expects clear skies after two cloudy days. The report is by Samakal’s Ishwardi (Pabna) and Lalpur (Natore) correspondents.
Photo: Salauddin.hossain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Samakal
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