Boro harvest in full swing

Haors and low-lying areas of Sunamganj and Moulvibazar are getting flooded as almost all major rivers in the country’s north-eastern districts and in the Indian state of Meghalaya are swelling up due to heavy rains, triggered by Cyclone Fani. 

However, officials at Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) do not anticipate that the flooding will be able to cause any significant damage to local agriculture as most farmers have already harvested paddy from croplands before Fani swept through the country on Saturday, reports our Sylhet correspondent. 

According to a bulletin, issued yesterday, by Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), level of water in all major rivers in north-eastern region of the country is on the rise.

The Kangsha river is flowing 109 centimetres above the danger level, while the Jadukata is flowing above 57 centimetres of the danger level, the FFWC said.

While speaking with our correspondent in Sylhet, DAE Deputy Director in Sunamganj Bashir Ahmed Sarkar said, “Water is rising in all haors including Tangua, Shoni, Matian and Korcha. However, most farmers have already harvested their crops before the water level started to rise in the haors.”

“Only a small number of farmers in Tanguar haor area fell behind. But hopefully, they will not face any trouble harvesting their crops  [before the haors get flooded],” he said.

He also said around 13,12,500 tonnes of Boro, more than their estimated target, were harvested this season in Sunamganj.

In April 2017, flash floods in Sylhet region washed away Boro paddy before those could be harvested. Farmers in Sunamganj were the worst affected by the floods that year.

According to DAE, Boro has been cultivated on 2,24,440 hectares of land in the district this year and the figure is 2 thousand hectares higher than the previous year.

Farmer Abdul Hakim from Kotamara village in Jamalganj said, “We reaped a good harvest this year despite fear of flash floods and rains triggered by the cyclone.”

However, the selling price of paddy is not satisfactory, considering the additional cost they had to incur due to shortage of labourers, he added.

Meanwhile, our Moulvibazar correspondent reports that a handful of farmers, who could not manage to harvest all their crops in Hakaluki haor before the Cyclone Fani lashed out on the country, are working in full swing to harvest the remainder of their crops before the floods hit the area.  

Some farmers said flood water has started gushing in inside the Hakaluki haor since Saturday. 

Ranendra Shankar Chakraborty, executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Moulvibazar, told this correspondent that low-lying areas in haors are getting submerged as water level in the Kushiyara river is rising every day.

WDB has been advising farmers to harvest their crops from the area to minimise losses due to the imminent floods, he also said.

Mohammad Shahjahan, additional director of DAE in Sylhet division, said Boro production in the region is expected to reach 19 lakh tonnes this year. The production last year was 18.5 lakh tonnes. 

Harvesting of paddy in haor areas of four districts under Sylhet division is in its final stage and so far, more than 85 percent of paddy has already been harvested, he said, adding that DAE has been making announcements over loudspeakers, asking farmers to harvest their paddy as soon as possible.  

Farmer Monir Mia, a resident of Boromchal area in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar, said till Friday, he harvested paddy from three out of his four acres of cultivated land.

After the Kushiyara started to inundate haor areas since the afternoon of Saturday, he was running against time to harvest paddy from his remaining one acre of land, he added.

Mobossir Ali, another farmer in Hakaluki haor area, said although he is yet to harvest 20 percent of his crops, his losses this year would remain lower than that during the flash floods in 2017.