Severe cold hampers Aman harvest in Pirojpur

Farmers in the district are facing serious problem in harvesting Aman paddy due to the severe cold for the last few days.

“All the paddy on my 1.5 bighas of land has ripen, but I cannot harvest it due to the persistent cold,” said Abdul Alim at Jhatokathi village under Pirojpur Sadar upazila.

“It is hard for us to go to the field for harvesting paddy amid the severe cold and dense fog that also kept the sun invisible for the last few days,” said Nizam Uddin, a farmer of Mulgram village in the upazila.

Besides, labourers are not willing to do the job of crop harvest amid the adverse weather, farmers said, adding that many people engaged in manual jobs now like to work in other sectors like construction.

If the ripe paddy is not harvested within several days, it will begin to drop, said farmer Ismail Hossain of Rayerkathi area in the upazila.

The region saw good yield of Aman paddy this season, said farmers.

Although cyclone Bulbul hit the southern districts early November last year, it did not cause much harm to Aman as the plants were yet to flower, they said.

Abu Hena Mohammad Jafar, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said, “Aman paddy in almost all the fields is mature enough but farmers cannot start harvesting it in full swing due to the cold. Hopefully, the situation will improve within a few days and farmers will be able to collect the crop by mid-January.”

This year Aman has been cultivated on over 60,000 acres of land in Pirojpur, he said.