They collect fallen paddy to celebrate Nabanno
The sweet smell of fresh Aman paddy fills the air in northern districts during the ongoing harvesting season while womenfolk are preparing to arrange ‘Nabanno Utsab’, the country’s traditional festival marking the winter harvest.
Enjoying various delicacies including home-made cakes features the occasion but how could poor, landless and floating people arrange such celebration?
Enthusiastic children of those marginal families help their parents to arrange the festival by collecting scattered paddy from fields.
Nabanno Utsab is an integral part of Bangalee heritage and people from all classes celebrate it, said Ahsan Rahim Manjil, convenor of ‘Nilphamari culture and heritage parishad’.
Aman paddy was cultivated this year on 1.13 lakh hectares of land with a target to produce 4.75 lakh tonnes and by this time 80% of harvesting has been completed, said Sanarul Islam, sub assistant agriculture officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Nilphamari.
During a recent visit to different areas, this correspondent saw farmers harvesting various kinds of Aman paddy like Swarna, Paizam, Nenia, Kalojira, Kataribhog, Nazirshail etc.
When paddy bundles are carried from fields on shoulder or oxcart, some of the crop falls off and remain scattered on ground.
Small boys and girls with bags and baskets go there to collect the crop while some of them use brooms for the purpose.
“We can collect 20kg to 40 kg of paddy during the harvesting period. For arranging Nabanno, we sell a part of it to buy edible oil, molasses, milk and other things to make cakes,” said Rabbani, 11, of Monthna village in Kishoreganj upazila.
Eight-year-old Beauty and seven-year-old Nazmul echoed the same.
“Some 4% of harvested paddy lie fallen on the field. Poor children collect a part of it and the rest is eaten by rats and insects,” said Md Kamrul Hasan, Sadar upazila agriculture officer.
Ramjan Ali, 45, and Maneka Begum, 36, in Dimla upazila said their children become so enthusiastic to collect scattered paddy for festival that they even miss school.
“There are four lakh school going children in the district. Usually the schools see 98% attendance but during paddy harvesting season, the attendance rate in rural areas reduces to 50% to 60%,” said Tareque Hasan, monitoring officer of district primary education office.
Comments