A sudden, heavy hailstorm has hit Durgapur upazila in Netrokona, damaging ripe paddy, according to reports.

Heavy hail began around 4am on Monday, 6 May, in various parts of Kullagora, Durgapur Sadar, Gaokandia and Chandigarh unions of the upazila. The hailstorm lasted about 10 minutes. Local farmers said they had not seen hail like it this season.

Most of the paddy was ready to be cut, but farmers had to wait because of a shortage of labourers and harvesting machines. In last night's sudden hailstorm most of the grain was shed from the panicles. Such damage from hail before the ripe paddy could be brought home has left farmers deeply worried. Seasonal fruit and trees were also reportedly damaged by the hail.

Mosharaf Hossain, a farmer from Kuralia village, said: "I planted paddy on 17 katha, but because of a virus I cut 7 katha early and got only 10 maunds from those 7 katha. The ripe paddy on the remaining 10 katha was shed by last night's hail. I had been trying to cut it for several days but could not get a machine."

Durgapur Upazila Agriculture Officer Nipa Biswas said paddy on 45 per cent of the land had been harvested so far, but the sudden hailstorm had damaged crops. Office staff are in the field to find out how much damage was done, and the extent of the losses will be known later, she said.

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