Boro farmers fear possible damage

As their Boro crops are not ready for harvest, farmers in Gaibandha’s Sundarganj upazila are worried about losing the crops to nor’wester or hailstorm.

Although the growers harvested a little portion of early variety of Boro paddy, they cannot dry the paddy and fodder for the last seven days due to cloudy weather.

Shortage of farm labourers is also hampering harvesting of the crops. A number of labourers have migrated to other places for better earning.

Meanwhile, farmers are losing interest in Boro cultivation due to low market prices of paddy, said growers.

Farmer Tara Mia of Santiram village in Sudarganj upazila said he cultivated Boro paddy on his five bighas of land this year.

“I have harvested early variety of Boro on one bigha of land, but another one week is needed for harvesting the remaining four bigha and I’m worried as the gusty wind or hailstorm may damage the standing crops anytime,” said Tara.

Another famer Monsur Ali of the area said he got 18 maunds of BIRI- 28 from one bigha of land and sold the paddy at Tk 600 per maund while he had to spend Tk 8,000 for the cultivation. So, Boro cultivation is not so profitable.

Due to low profit margin, farmers are gradually losing interest in Boro cultivation. Instead, they are much eager on vegetables and Robi crops farming due to lower production cost, opined the growers.

Sundarganj Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer AKM Faridul Islam said 25,820 hectares of land have been brought under Boro cultivation in the upazila this year while it was 26,000 hectares in 2018.