Rain and runoff from upstream have swollen the Teesta, submerging groundnut and other crops on several chars in Ulipur and Rajarhat upazilas of Kurigram. Farmers face losses, and in some places immature groundnuts are being pulled up to recover part of the loss.

The Teesta began rising on Saturday (17 May). On Sunday (18 May), groundnut and other fields on the chars and low-lying land along the river in Bidyananda and Ghoriyaldanga unions of Rajarhat upazila were under water. The same was seen in several areas of Daldalia and Thetrai unions in Ulipur upazila, which are surrounded by the Teesta.

The Rajarhat upazila agriculture office said farmers this year grew 175 hectares of groundnut, 20 hectares of jute, three hectares of chilli and five hectares of various vegetables on chars that have emerged along the Teesta. Several days of heavy and moderate rain and hill runoff from upstream rain swelled the river, which entered the low chars and submerged fields in Bidyananda and Ghoriyaldanga unions. Groundnut fields were the worst affected. Some farmers are wading in to pull up immature groundnuts, chillies and other crops, but they are losing more than they save.

People along the Teesta fear more fields will go under if the upstream flow keeps rising. Maidul Islam, a farmer from Char Bidyananda village in Bidyananda union, said he had grown groundnuts on six acres of char land, all of which is under water.

Rajarhat upazila agriculture officer Saifurunnahar Sathi said the Teesta had risen suddenly and the low chars of Bidyananda and Ghoriyaldanga unions were partly submerged. Farmers have been advised to harvest their maturing groundnuts.

The Ulipur upazila agriculture office said 230 hectares of groundnut, 400 hectares of jute, 10 hectares of mung bean, 10 hectares of chilli and 5 hectares of vegetables were grown on the Teesta chars this season, and several days of heavy and moderate rain swelled the river and submerged a number of fields.

Lal Mia, Farid Sheikh, Ali Akbar, Nazrul Islam, Hossain Ali and other farmers of Char Goraipiyar in Thetrai union said their groundnut fields were under water, and some were trying to pull up immature nuts to make up part of the loss.

Shukabbar Ali, a farmer in the Karpura area of Daldalia union, said he had grown groundnuts on 50 decimals of land at considerable cost, and 30 decimals are now under water. He is trying to harvest them but will not recover his costs. Atiar Rahman, a groundnut farmer in nearby Rashider Char, said the same.

Ulipur upazila agriculture officer Mosharraf Hossain said the rising Teesta had submerged groundnuts on about two hectares in four unions of the upazila, and a list of affected farmers is being prepared.

Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Khamarbari, Kurigram, said reports so far showed three hectares of groundnut fields submerged in the district. The water has already begun to recede, he said, and once it goes down farmers will not suffer much loss.

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