A severe heatwave is sweeping the country and disrupting everyday life. It has left paddy farmers in Shariatpur in real difficulty: fearing heatstroke, they cannot cut their ripe paddy in the daytime, and many have been forced to choose the night as their harvesting time.

According to the district agriculture office, boro paddy has been grown on 25,526 hectares in the district's six upazilas this season: 5,585 hectares in Sadar, 5,420 in Naria, 1,151 in Zajira, 4,650 in Bhedarganj, 3,821 in Damudya and 4,898 in Gosairhat. Last year boro was grown on 25,190 hectares in the district and production was 1,15,906 tonnes. The area this year is up by 336 hectares on last year.

The boro production target for the district this season is 1,17,627 tonnes. The agriculture department expects the continuing extreme heat to disrupt production somewhat.

A visit to several fields found golden paddy swaying across the land, with most of it now ripe. Because the sun is so fierce during the day, farmers are cutting their paddy at night by the light of the moon.

Mizan Sikdar, a farmer in the Char Kashabhog area, grew boro on 80 decimals of land this year and is largely pleased with the good yield. His trouble began once the paddy ripened: in the extreme heat many labourers would not agree to cut paddy during the day. He decided to harvest at night instead and began cutting by moonlight with four farmhands. The work runs from 9pm to 5am, which has brought him considerable relief.

"We always cut paddy in the daytime," Mizan Sikdar said. "This year, because of the intense heat, it was impossible to find farmhands during the day and I was in real difficulty. Then one of my brothers advised me to cut the paddy at night. As soon as I told the farmhands, they agreed. We start the work once the heat of the day has eased."

Azizul Islam, a paddy farmer in the Angaria area, said he had started cutting paddy on 40 decimals of land at night with farmhands. "Many people would not agree to cut paddy during the day, mainly for fear of heatstroke, so I started harvesting at night. At night there is a breeze in the fields and it is cool as well. I think night is the right time to cut paddy at this time of year."

Mohammad Riazur Rahman, additional deputy director (horticulture) at the district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said the extreme heat had made daytime harvesting very hard for farmers because working in such heat carries health risks. Those who work in the fields in this heat must drink plenty of safe water and rest in the shade of trees, he said.

Advising farmers on night harvesting, he said paddy is currently being cut at night in various parts of the district, which is helping to avoid heatstroke. But if these farmers used the department's harvester machines, they could gather their paddy even faster, he added.

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