There has been no rain in Moulvibazar for five months. Rivers, canals and haors have dried up and there is no water anywhere. A little rain fell last Wednesday (15 March), but it was far short of what is needed. As a result, Boro rice fields have cracked for lack of water and the rice leaves are burning.

Farmers said that, with no rain, they had grown their rice with water from rivers and canals. Now there is nowhere left to get water for irrigation, and the rice is being ruined. The agriculture office says rain is the only hope.

At Hakaluki haor, a farmer named Saiful said there had been no rain since the month of Kartik, so all the canals, beels and ditches in the haor had dried up and there was no way to irrigate the fields. The very slight rain on Wednesday was nothing for the crops, he said.

Farmer Tajuddin said, "We farm with water from the river and canals. This time the river and canal water has dried up. The land has cracked just when the rice is heading. I can't think what to do now."

Farmer Fatik Mia, asking for water to be arranged, said it looked as though the Boro rice would not be harvested this time because of the water shortage.

Nazrul Islam, a farmer in Jalalpur village, said, "There is no water because the river has dried up. The rice leaves are turning red and dying for lack of water, and the plants are not heading. We have no way out except Allah."

Kulaura Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Abdul Momen told Jago News that farmers in the area grow Boro by irrigating with water from ponds and ditches, which are linked to the Panai river. Now that the river water has dropped, there is no way to irrigate artificially.

He said the lack of rain was a natural disaster. "There was a little rain on Wednesday. I hope there will be enough rain soon. The rice will not suffer much damage, and the leaves will stop dying."

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