Heavy rain at the start of the season pushed aman planting in Noakhali back by at least a month. When it stopped, farmers in Subarnachar, Hatiya, Sadar, Companiganj and Kabirhat raised seedbeds with irrigation and transplanted. But two months without rain since then have left the fields short of water, and in the sun and heat paddy on thousands of acres has dried out before the grain set, the soil splitting open.
Ajker Patrika's Noakhali correspondent Mizanur Rahman Riad saw the damage on Friday in several unions of Sadar, Subarnachar and Companiganj upazilas. Even plants that are still green have not set grain, raising fears of a failed aman harvest in the district and heavy losses for farmers.
The soil in Md Yusuf's eight-decimal plot in Charwapda union, Subarnachar, is cracked through, and most of his plants look scorched; where trees shade the field there is grain, but most of it is empty husk. Md Murad Uddin of the same union said his three and a half acres had been burnt. Mofiz Ullah of Char Aman Ullah said there is no water source nearby to irrigate from, and having farmed with a bank loan and money borrowed at interest, he is now in despair.
Abdul Matin of Dharmapur union in Sadar said heavy rain in July stopped him planting on time, and when the grain should have formed there was no rain and the plants burnt. Rahim Uddin of Char Elahi union in Companiganj said they had paid labourers Tk 1,000 to 1,200 each, besides fertiliser and pesticide; bringing water from far away would now cost another Tk 5,000 an acre, which they cannot afford.
Department of Agricultural Extension figures show transplanted aman was planted on 170,622 hectares in Noakhali this year, with a target of 467,950 tonnes of rice. Deputy director Ashis Kumar Kar said a list of affected farmers is being drawn up and will take some time to finalise, after which they will receive government incentives and support.
For the future, he said, the department is working to increase natural water sources and encourage farmers to grow salt-tolerant varieties.
Source: Ajker Patrika
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