After four days of continuous rain, the sun has finally come out in Kishoreganj. It has brought farmers some relief, but their worries have not entirely gone. From Thursday morning (30 April), farmers in various haors of the district were busy cutting and threshing paddy.
Visits from morning to midday to haors in Nikli, Itna, Mithamoin and Austagram upazilas found labourers cutting ripe paddy, some standing in water and some on dry land. The cut paddy was being carried by trucks and other vehicles to the threshing yards. Farmers and their families were busy drying heaped paddy on the yards in the sun, and many were spreading wet straw on roads and open fields to dry. But even with the sun out, the farmers' worries have not fully eased.
Ramiz Mia, a farmer in Shantipur village in Mithamoin, said the paddy that had gone under water had been brought to the threshing yard, but he could not dry it because of the rain. "Today the sun came out and I feel some relief. Everyone is busy drying paddy now. If the sun stays like this, the water on the land will fall too. But I'm worried whether I'll be able to bring all the paddy home."
River levels mixed
Akhtar Faruk, senior observer at the Nikli weather observatory, said 61.1 millimetres of rain was recorded in the 24 hours from Wednesday morning to this morning.
Sajjad Hossain, executive engineer of the Kishoreganj Water Development Board, said the Magra river at Chamraghat in Karimganj rose 63 centimetres on Wednesday but fell 2 centimetres today. The Dhanu-Baulai river at Itna rose 49 centimetres on Wednesday and 14 centimetres today. The Kalni at Austagram rose 69 centimetres on Wednesday but only 1 centimetre today. The Meghna at Bhairab has also begun to fall. He said farmers had already been instructed to cut their paddy quickly.
Dr Sadiqur Rahman, deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said several days of continuous rain have submerged paddy on 4,754 hectares in Kishoreganj, with the greatest damage in Itna upazila. But if there is no more rain now, it is hoped that farmers will not face major losses, he said.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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