Water flowing down from upstream keeps raising the Padma in Pabna. Crops on large areas of land in three upazilas have gone under, and vegetables and bananas on about 1,500 bighas have been damaged. With market supply falling, vegetable prices are climbing fast.

The Padma at the Hardinge Bridge point in Pabna is close to the danger level. The fierce current from upstream is worrying people along the river. According to the Water Development Board, the river has risen by 10 to 15 centimetres a day over the past few days, and one more metre will take it over the danger mark.

As the water keeps rising, char and other low land along the Padma has gone under in Charatarapur, Bharara, Dogachhi, Hemayetpur, Gayeshpur, Dapunia and Ataikula in Sadar upazila, Bhayna and Satbaria in Sujanagar, Lakshmikunda in Ishwardi upazila and several other areas.

Chilli, banana, pumpkin, bottle gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, bitter gourd, sweet pumpkin, radish and other vegetables had been grown widely on this land. With the fields flooded over the past three to four days, supply to markets has fallen, and in a week the prices of most vegetables have nearly doubled.

In Bhagirathpur, Char Pratappur and Shanikdiar in Hemayetpur union of Pabna Sadar and in Lakshmikunda in Ishwardi, all the vegetables grown on the Padma chars are now under water. Farmers wading in water from knee to neck deep were trying to salvage bitter gourd, pumpkin, bottle gourd and sponge gourd one last time. Newly sown radish was flooded before it could grow, so farmers are pulling that up too. Plants the water has reached have begun to die, and most of the banana land on the Padma chars is now under water.

Farmers said they had not seen such water in the Padma for several years. The unusual rise has destroyed paddy, bananas, chillies and vegetables on thousands of bighas. Grazing land has also gone under, causing a shortage of cattle feed, and they fear being ruined by debt.

Sanaullah, a farmer of Char Pratappur village, said 260 bighas of his banana land on the Padma char are under water, in most places up to the top of the plants. He grew various vegetables on 21 bighas, and everything on 12 bighas, including 5 bighas of radish, has gone under. He farmed with loans of lakhs of taka and asked how he would repay them.

Hossain Malitha, a farmer in Lakshmikunda, told Jagonews that someone with 30 bighas has 20 under water, and someone with 20 has 15. They had hoped to make some profit from early vegetables. Growing a bigha of radish costs Tk 30,000–40,000 and should sell for Tk 70,000–80,000. His other 5 bighas of vegetables should have earned at least Tk 50 lakh, he said, but everything is now under water.

Several farmers, including Billar Pramanik of Shahdiar in Dapunia union and Shahin of Mondolpara, said vegetables on hundreds of bighas had gone under, and some plants not submerged were dying too. It was a big blow, they said, and the worry now is how to repay loans. Meanwhile there are no vegetables in the market and prices are heading towards double.

Jafir Majhi of Bhagirathpur said he ferries farmers across to the Padma char with three boats. Hundreds of farmers from at least 20 villages on the char used to carry lakhs of taka worth of vegetables across in his boats every day, but now not even a lakh taka worth is crossing. With less produce going to market, prices are bound to rise, he said.

Local farmers said a pumpkin that cost Tk 18–25 a week ago now costs Tk 45–50. All vegetables have risen in the same way: a maund of bitter gourd has gone from Tk 1,500 to Tk 3,000, a kilo of ridge gourd from Tk 30 to Tk 70, and a maund of radish from Tk 500–700 to Tk 1,200. Some vegetables are still available, but if the water keeps rising, none will come from those areas in two or three days.

The district agriculture department says 326 hectares in the district have been hit by the flood, including 3.5 hectares in Sujanagar upazila, 25 in Ishwardi and 297.5 in Sadar upazila. Of this, chilli, banana and vegetables on 201.5 hectares have been affected.

Md Jahangir Alam Pramanik, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Pabna, told Jagonews that much of the land would survive if the water receded quickly. The department is listing the damage and affected farmers, and they will be given incentives or support if needed. It is also watching to make sure the flood does not affect the market excessively.

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