Sunamganj is known as a granary of boro rice. The 137 haors in the district's 12 upazilas have produced a bumper paddy crop, and farmers began harvesting it before Pahela Baishakh. But a sudden weather office forecast of rain and hill runoff from upstream has raised fears of flooding in the downstream district, and the joy of the haor areas seems to have stalled in an instant.

Sunamganj covers 3,747.18 square kilometres, and its economy turns on paddy production in the haors. The boro rice grown in the district is also said to feed the whole country for four days.

This season, the district's 10 lakh farmers grew boro rice on 2,23,245 hectares with borrowed money or loans at high interest from moneylenders, and the crop was a bumper one.

As haor paddy ripened just before the start of Baishakh, farmers were delighted. On 10 April, agriculture adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury formally opened the harvest in the haor.

But just as farmers were overjoyed at the bumper yield across the haor, a dark cloud seemed to fall over them. Kalbaishakhi storms have hit the district since the first day of Baishakh, and according to a weather forecast issued on Friday, 18 April, there could be heavy rain for a week without a break, raising fears of flooding in the haor areas.

Jalal Mia, a farmer of Karchar haor, told Jago News: "We grew this crop with great effort. Storms and rain have already begun. If we can't bring the crop home now, we will be ruined."

Sultan Mia, another Karchar haor farmer, said: "I grew boro paddy with money borrowed at high interest. The paddy isn't fully ripe yet and the rain has started. I'm worried."

Swapan Mia, a farmer of Dekhar haor, told Jago News that there is little risk of crop loss from rain in Sunamganj itself, but when rain starts in Cherrapunji in India, their crops suffer heavy damage.

After receiving the Meteorological Department's forecast, the district administration advised farmers to harvest ripe paddy in the 137 haors quickly to avoid crop loss. All leave for the district administration, the Water Development Board and the agriculture department has been cancelled until all the haor paddy is brought home.

Mamun Howlader, executive engineer of the Water Development Board, told Jago News that rain in Sunamganj and in Cherrapunji in India could create a flood situation in the district, inundate low-lying areas and damage crops.

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