Floodwater from upstream and continuous rain have submerged and destroyed crop fields in the river basins of Kurigram, leaving farmers on the chars facing losses. They have not given up, however. With the water now receding, farmers are trying to recover, and the agriculture department has promised to assess the damage and stand by them.

Heavy rain more than a week ago flooded crops in fields across the char areas. To save what they had invested, many farmers harvested their crops before they were ripe. Now that the water has gone down, the scars are becoming clear, and some farmers are clearing their damaged fields.

Farmers say the untimely flood has left them facing severe losses this year.

The district agriculture department said that of about 30,000 hectares cultivated this season on the chars of the district's 16 river basins, vegetables and other crops on 300 hectares were destroyed by floodwater.

Tarajul Islam, a farmer from Char Bidyananda village in Rajarhat upazila, said: "I lost nearly Tk 4 lakh on potatoes. This time the flood came out of season. My groundnut on one acre is almost finished. If we keep losing like this, it will not be possible to farm."

Ershad Ali, a farmer from the Shulkur Bazar area of Panchgachhi union in Sadar upazila, said water entered his potol (pointed gourd) field and all the plants on one bigha died. "The water in the field has caused me a big loss. If the water had come a few days later, I could have sold a lot of potol," he said.

Dr Mamunur Rahman, assistant deputy director (training) of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Kurigram, said crop damage in the riverside areas had not yet been assessed. Once it is assessed, higher authorities will be informed, he said.

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