Farmers in 8 Nilphamari villages lose Boro

“I wanted to marry off my daughter once the Boro harvesting is over this season, but now it cannot be a reality as I did not get even a single corn of paddy as my cropland was totally damaged during last month's devastating hailstorm,” farmer Islam Uddin of Panga Motukpur village in Domar upazila said.

Like him, thousands of farmers of Bhogdaburi, Ketkibari, Jorabari, Gomnati, Bamunia, Panga Motukpur, Boragari and Domar Sadar villages in the upazila had been experiencing the same situation as the devastating hailstorm shattered their dreams.

Domar Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Md Sadekuzzaman said around 8,000 hectares of Boro field in the upazila have been damaged completely in last month's hailstorms, affecting nearly 56,000 local farmers.

Farmer Monwar Hossain, 50, of Ketkibari village, said, “All of a sudden, on the evening of May 10 a devastating hailstorm accompanied by gusty wind swept through the village. The storm that lasted for nearly half an hour scattered all the Boro fields of the entire village.”

“Ripe Boro paddy on my 10 bighas of land was completely damaged during the storm, although I was expecting to get 200 maunds of paddy this season,” he added.

Marginal farmer Hashem Ali, 56, of Jorabari village, said he cultivated Boro paddy on one bigha at a cost of Tk 13,000, which he took as loan from a local money lender, and now has no way to repay the money as his cropland is completely damaged.

Farmer Anjufar Rahman of Bhogdaburi village said he lost paddy on his 70 bighas of land and now is maintaining his family with the help of his relatives.

Farmers Brojen Roy, 60, and Altaf Hossain, 48, of Gomnati village, said they are now worried about how they would arrange money for Aman cultivation in July as they have already debt of previous loans and unpaid electricity bills.

Domar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Umme Fatima said the upazila administration has urged the government to provide aid for the affected farmers.

Domar Upazila Agriculture Officer Jafar Iqbal said they have informed the ministry concerned regarding the loss of Boro farmers and requested the start of their rehabilitation process soon.