A spell without rain in Hili, Dinajpur, has forced farmers to irrigate their transplanted Aman paddy, and the rise in fuel prices has pushed the cost of irrigation and other field work higher still, leaving them worried whether they will recover the cost of growing the crop.

The paddy is due to start ripening within days, but the dry weather has begun to damage plants in Boaldar, Jalalpur and other parts of Hili, where the soil is cracking. Many farmers are running diesel and petrol shallow pumps to save the crop. They say fertiliser and pesticide are already expensive, and the extra irrigation cost makes a profit hard to reach.

'With no rain we have to irrigate with a diesel engine to save the paddy, and now the fuel price rise has made it very hard for us,' said Boaldar farmer Sheregul Islam, adding that a small cut in fuel prices would help farmers.

Siddique Hossain of Jalalpur said the cost that used to be Tk 15,000 to 16,000 has risen to Tk 20,000, an extra two to three thousand taka a bigha. Nasir Hossain of Chhatni village doubted he could recover what he is spending.

Hakimpur upazila agriculture officer Arjena Begum said transplanted Aman covers 8,118 hectares in the upazila this season. The weather has been favourable so far, farmers are being advised, and the agriculture department expects a good yield this season, she said.

This report is based on information from Bangla Tribune's Hili correspondent.

Source: Bangla Tribune