Farmers in Gurudaspur, Natore, are worried after 30 irrigation machines were stolen from farmland over three nights. The machines (shallow machines) were being used to irrigate crop fields. More than a hundred farmers are now worried about irrigating 300 bighas of land.

The machines were stolen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from the Sidhuli and Udbaria fields of Dharabarisha union in the upazila. Farmers formed a human chain in front of the police station on Monday afternoon over the thefts. Thirty machines belonging to 30 farmers of Udbaria village, including Tofazzal Hossain Montu, Abu Taher, Touhidul Islam, Anadul, Tota Mia, Abdur Razzak, Shajahan Ali, Asir Uddin, Muntaz and Abdus Samad, were stolen from cropland in Sidhuli and Udbaria.

The agriculture office said about 300 bighas in the area are under irrigation-dependent garlic, onion, coriander and other winter vegetables. In the rabi season, more than a hundred farmers had contracts with the machine owners at Tk 1,000 per bigha for each irrigation. The stolen machines were used to irrigate the land, and both owners and farmers are now worried.

Farmers including Razzak and Touhidul said they have not been able to arrange any other means of irrigation since the machines were stolen, and they are worried about their crops. The stolen machines were worth Tk 15,000 to 20,000 each on average. They said all the shallow machines within the 300 bighas around two beels were stolen in one night. It is not possible for farmers to buy machines immediately to irrigate their land, so they have sought government intervention.

Upazila agriculture officer Harunar Rashid expressed regret, saying the theft of the farmers' shallow machines has created uncertainty over irrigation. Farmers have been advised to file a complaint with the police, he said.

Local UP chairman Abdul Matin said farmers are in despair after losing their means of irrigating their fields. He called for police intervention to recover the machines.

Gurudaspur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Golam Sarwar Hossain said nobody has filed a complaint with the police over the theft.

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