The joys and sorrows of the people of the haors revolve around Baishakh. In this region Baishakh means the time to bring home the boro paddy, so on the first day of Baishakh the haor farmers were busy harvesting ripe paddy.

Thanks to favourable weather, Sunamganj has had a bumper boro crop this year, bringing smiles to farmers' faces. As the sun rose on the first day of Baishakh, 10 lakh farmers in the 12 upazilas of Sunamganj went into the fields to cut paddy, gamchhas wrapped around their heads.

Nur Alam Mia, a farmer of Karchar Haor, borrowed money at high interest from a moneylender to grow boro on five acres. The bumper crop has made him smile, and he was carrying the paddy home in sacks with his two sons.

"I feel very happy to bring home the crop of my hard work on the first day of Baishakh," Nur Alam told Jagonews. Not only Nur Alam: the bumper boro crop has brought smiles to all the farmers along the haors.

Liza Begum, a woman farmer of Karchar Haor, told Jagonews: "My husband is bringing the paddy to the front of the house, and I am drying it in the sun."

Rabi Mia, a farmer of Shanir Haor, told Jagonews: "I am truly very happy to bring paddy home on the first day of Baishakh. I will be able to spend the whole year in peace with my family."

This season 2 lakh 22 thousand 795 hectares have been cultivated in 137 haors of Sunamganj. They are expected to yield 13 lakh 53 thousand tonnes of paddy, which will produce 9 lakh 2 thousand tonnes of rice with a market value of Tk 3,088 crore.

Bimal Chandra Som, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Sunamganj, said the boro harvest in the haors has begun and there is no shortage of labourers. "I hope the target will be met," he said.

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