There was rain in Asharh, but none in the middle of Srabon, and aman farmers in Dinajpur are facing drought. Those who planted early paddy seedlings so they can grow potatoes afterwards are irrigating, and those who have not yet planted are also irrigating to prepare for planting aman seedlings.

A visit to Dinajpur's Sadar and Biral upazilas on Tuesday found farmers running shallow machines to irrigate aman fields. Many had planted the aromatic BRRI dhan90 (known as 90 jira) and BRRI dhan51 (hybrid) with the rain of Asharh. But with no rain in Srabon and temperatures rising, the paddy fields have cracked apart and the planted seedlings are burning. Those who have not yet planted are preparing land with irrigation.

Amjad Ali, a farmer from Lalmatia village in No. 2 Farakkabad union of Biral upazila, said: "There is no rain in Srabon, and the sun has cracked the land. I was forced to buy a new machine for Tk 23,000 to irrigate the land. Otherwise the seedlings will be ruined."

Another farmer, Azgar Ali, said he too planted BRRI dhan51 (hybrid) on 4 bighas with the Asharh rain. Hybrid paddy needs more water, but there is no rain and the sun has cracked the land, so he is irrigating, which will raise his costs.

Abuzar and Abdur Razzak, farmers from Umarpail Balupara village in Sadar upazila, said: "It is the 15th day of Srabon, but there is no sign of rain. The rain that fell in Asharh has dried up in the fierce sun and heat. Dinajpur is in the grip of drought. If we cannot plant aman seedlings now, we will not get a good yield."

The district agriculture department has set a target of growing aman paddy on 270,550 hectares this aman season. Transplanted aman seedlings of early varieties have been planted on 1,500 hectares in the district.

Md Nuruzzaman Mia, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, said the target of 270,550 hectares of transplanted aman this season includes 236,250 hectares of high-yielding varieties, 25,150 hectares of hybrid varieties and 9,150 hectares of local varieties. The production target is about 7.5 lakh tonnes of rice.

On the lack of rain in Srabon, he said there is still enough time. The aman being planted now is all early varieties, and farmers will harvest this paddy and then grow potatoes.

Meanwhile, the weather office said the monsoon is active over Dinajpur and rain could fall at any time. However, temperatures are fluctuating between 36 and 38 degrees. At 3pm last Monday, the country's highest temperature was recorded in Dinajpur at 35.6 degrees Celsius.

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