Four days of light rain and gusty wind, brought by a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal, have flattened ripe and half-ripe aman paddy on thousands of hectares across Lalmonirhat's five upazilas. In many fields the paddy has been pressed into the soil, and some fields are under water. Farmers are in despair at the disaster striking just before harvest.

Lalmonirhat, bounded by the Teesta, Dharla and Saniajan rivers, has an economy that depends mainly on agriculture. According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), aman has been grown on 86,645 hectares in the district this year. Harvesting of early varieties has begun, but full-scale threshing is still 20 to 25 days away, and that is when the bad weather struck.

In the fields, much of the standing aman had been knocked down by the wind and rain and lay under water. Farmers say this paddy can no longer be brought home. Flattened ripe paddy can be cut somehow, but the half-ripe paddy is heading for total loss. They also fear the straw, the main fodder for cattle, will rot. Many farmers were seen trying hard to tie the fallen plants into bundles and stand them up, and some were bailing water out of their fields, but they doubt it will save the crop.

Ershad Ali, a farmer in the Teesta char area of Sindurna union, said: "This wind has done more damage to the aman than last year's flood. The little hope that survived the flood water is also gone. Farmers face trouble on all sides. The paddy will not reach home, and this time it seems we will die of hunger."

Sahir Uddin, a farmer from Mohishkhocha, said: "Not a single plant in my field is standing. Everything is pressed into the soil. In another 10 to 15 days I could have brought this paddy home. Now half of it will rot. For the paddy under water, there will be no straw for the cattle either. Like potatoes, we will suffer heavy losses on aman this time." Farmers are at a loss over repaying loans and production costs, and deeply worried about feeding their families.

Many farmers complained that field workers of the agriculture department were not beside them at this time of disaster. They allege that field staff are drawing up lists of affected farmers from home without visiting the fields, a long-standing problem.

Shaikhul Arefin, deputy director of the DAE in Lalmonirhat, said aman had been grown on 86,645 hectares in the district this year and work was under way on a list to assess the damage to fields flattened by the bad weather. "We are standing beside farmers with advice and support," he said.

He added that tying the flattened paddy into bunches could reduce the losses somewhat, and that is the advice being given to farmers.

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