The Padma is rising every day in Ishwardi, Pabna, after heavy rain and hill runoff. Crops on hundreds of hectares in the riverside Lakshmikunda, Pakshi and Sara unions of the upazila have been submerged, and farmers are at a loss as their vegetable, sugarcane and banana fields go under.

At the Hardinge Bridge point in Ishwardi, the Padma is close to the danger mark. The danger level at this point is 13.80 metres; on Tuesday morning the water stood at 12.52, which the report gives in centimetres.

The rising water has submerged cropland at Dadapur, Lakshmikunda, Kamalpur, Char Kuruliya and Bilkedar in Lakshmikunda union, Char Ruppur in Pakshi union, Sara Ghat in Sara union, and the wide Sahebnagar char in the middle of the Padma. The greatest loss is feared on 1,400 hectares of banana land along the river. If the water does not recede from these fields within five to seven days, the plants may die of various diseases. The land in these areas is also planted with rice, maize, sugarcane, pumpkin, sweet pumpkin, coriander, radish, cucumber, aubergine, bitter gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, carrot and other vegetables. Most of it has been under water for the past week, causing heavy losses to farmers.

A visit to Dadapur, Lakshmikunda, Char Kuruliya and Char Ruppur found water in most banana fields and most vegetable fields. Farmers were trying to salvage submerged coriander, bitter gourd, radish and other vegetables, although most were unripe and not ready for market. To recover part of their losses they are harvesting them and selling them cheaply at market, and cutting unripe bunches of bananas from the flooded plantations.

Farmers say the Padma has not risen this much in five to seven years. Banana growers fear the greatest losses from the abnormal rise. Bananas are grown on 1,400 hectares of the chars, most of which is now under water. Vegetables on hundreds of bighas of other land have also been ruined, and with cattle and buffalo grazing land flooded, there is a shortage of fodder.

Mizanur Rahman, a farmer of Lakshmikunda village, said: "I grew coriander on 20 bighas, of which 19 bighas are under water; only one bigha is left. My 15-bigha banana plantation is completely submerged. We don't know what to do. Each bigha of our coriander sells to wholesalers for Tk 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh. The 19 bighas would have sold for at least Tk 20-25 lakh. On the 15 bighas of banana I will lose Tk 4 to 5 lakh."

Nayan Ahmed, a farmer of Dadapur village, said thousands of farmers cultivate the chars along the Padma in their union, and this year the crops in the area went under because of the heavy rains, causing extensive damage. He appealed to Ishwardi upazila agriculture officials to stand by the affected farmers.

Murad Ali, another Dadapur farmer, said bananas on five bighas and green chillies on one bigha had been submerged, costing him about Tk 5 lakh.

Ishwardi upazila agriculture officer Abdul Momin told Jagonews that the Padma had been rising for the past few days, and water had entered fields of banana, coriander, radish and other crops at Dadapur, Bilkedar and Char Kuruliya in the riverside Lakshmikunda union. If the flood water recedes quickly, farmers' losses will be reduced. He said he would inform senior officials so that incentives could be given to the worst-affected farmers.

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