Early Aman harvesting and threshing are in full swing in Kishoreganj upazila of Nilphamari. Good weather and care have produced 14 to 18 maunds of paddy a bigha, but with paddy selling for only Tk 500-600 a maund, farmers are losing money despite the bumper crop.

For decades farmers here have grown early Aman on high land in the lean months of Bhadra and Ashwin, helping end the seasonal hunger known as monga. This year too, small, marginal and sharecropping farmers planted BRRI dhan94 and various hybrid "China" varieties in the gap between maize and early potato.

By farmers' reckoning, ploughing, transplanting, seed, fertiliser, pesticide, irrigation, weeding, harvesting and threshing cost Tk 14,000-15,000 a bigha, while the paddy fetches Tk 8,000-10,000 - a loss of up to Tk 5,000-6,000 a bigha.

Nur Mohammad, known as Sona, of Putimari union grew early paddy on 13 bighas. Against costs of Tk 15,000 a bigha, 18 maunds of paddy brought him Tk 9,360 and the straw Tk 1,500, a total loss of Tk 52,000 across 13 bighas. Sharecropper Mofiz Uddin of Bahagili union borrowed from an NGO to farm 2.25 bighas, spent Tk 33,000 and got Tk 15,000 for 29 maunds of paddy. "How will I repay the loan instalments now?" he asked.

Farmers are demanding a guaranteed fair price, government purchase of paddy direct from the field and firm control of market syndicates. In the fields some cut paddy with sickles while others use combine harvesters, and as soon as land is cleared it is being prepared for early potato and winter vegetables.

Upazila agriculture officer Lokman Alam said the target for early paddy this season was 4,910 hectares and most fields were threshed between mid-Bhadra and the end of Ashwin, but the agriculture office has no control over paddy prices. Incentives of the climate-resilient BRRI-98 Aus variety, which matures in 130 days, were given to 650 farmers as an early crop so they could make up losses with early paddy and potato.

Reported by the Kishoreganj (Nilphamari) correspondent of Protidiner Sangbad.

Source: Protidiner Sangbad