Acute dearth of farm labourers
Heatwave hits Boro harvest in Magura, Rangpur, Khulna, Gaibandha
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Boro paddy harvesting is being hampered halfway through in Magura, Rangpur, Khulna and Gaibandha districts on account of unavailability of farm labourers amid the prevailing hot weather.
Our Magura Correspondent reports: An acute shortage of farm labourers and high wages are hampering Boro harvesting in the district as the labourers are mostly reluctant to join paddy cutting braving the searing heat of the sun.
Sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Magura said 38,935 hectares of land were brought under Boro cultivation in the district this season.
A total of 175,205 tonnes of rice were targeted to be produced in the district.
Muktadir Rahman, a farmer of Dharla village under Magura sadar upazila said, "This year, I brought my two bighas of land under Boro cultivation. I expected to get 25 mounds of paddy from this. But due to the heatwave, a sizable amount of paddy could not be reaped; so I apprehend that there will be 10 maund less production than the target."
Balai Krishna, another farmer of Beroil village under Magura sadar upazila, said, "At the midpoint of the Boro harvest, there occurred a severe crisis of labourers. Due to extreme hot weather, labourers showed reluctance to work in fields. Consequently, my paddy harvesting was seriously hampered."
Golapdi Biswas, another farmer of Atharakhada village under Magura sadar upazila, said, "Amid the heatwave, we faced 8 to 9 hours of power load-shedding each day. On the other hand due to fall in underground water level irrigation pumps got difficulties in lifting water. Consequently, proper nurturing of Boro fields could not be possible and eventually there was a less production of paddy this season."
Our Rangpur Correspondent says: A severe shortage of farm labourers resulting from the prevailing hot spell is hampering Boro paddy harvesting in the district putting farmers in trouble.
According to the DAE, Rangpur region office, this year farmers cultivated Boro paddy on 503,000 hectares of land in five districts of the region.
Due to lack of rain, many farmers in the region irrigated their fields with electric or diesel-run pumps to save the fields from extreme heat; it cost them higher and ultimately lessened their production.
Small rivers, canals, ponds and other waterbodies of the region dried up, hindering the irrigation process, hampering paddy production at a regular cost. Moreover, frequent power outages worsened the situation, making the farmers apprehensive of an additional production cost and less profit.
It is learnt that solvent farmers somehow managed the situation by irrigating Boro fields using own power pumps but small and marginal farmers were the worst sufferers.
They were compelled to pay Tk140 to Tk 200 per hour for irrigation on rent, which significantly increased the production cost, and reduced the profit. Expressing disappointment Shahedul Islam, a farmer of Darshana area in Rangpur sadar upazila, told The Financial Express, "Though I irrigated fields with so much water, there remained almost no water in land for the sultry heat."
Additional director of the DAE, Rangpur region agriculturist Md Obaidur Rahman Mandal said DAE took initiative to motivate farmers for irrigating their fields amid the intense heat.
"We are optimistic that the Boro paddy yield target will be met fully in Rangpur region this season, as the weather condition is expected to improve within next few days," he added.
Our Correspondent from Khulna adds, at present, farmers in Khulna district are worried a lot as they cannot harvest their Boro paddy for want of required number of labourers amid the extreme heat.
Having grappled with drought and the unrelenting heatwave for the past few days, the farmers fear they may not be able to even recover the production cost of Boro paddy this year, due to hire labour wages.
The DAE set a target to bring a total of 257,020 hectares of land under Boro cultivation in the district this year with the production target of 11,38,871 tonnes of paddy.
Boro paddy harvesting went on well from the beginning, but it hit a snag halfway through due to labour shortage amid the severe heatwave.
Our Gaibandha Correspondent reports, like some other districts, farmers here are also frustrated as a severe dearth of farm labourers has come as a barrier to Boro paddy harvesting thanks to the prevailing hot spell.
According to the DAE, Gaibandha, a target was fixed to cultivate Boro paddy on 128,365 hectares of land in the district this season but the paddy was planted on 128,340 hectares against the target.
Farmers are in trouble due to shortage of labourers to cut paddy in excessive heat. Even if some workers are available, they have to be paid much higher wages.
Md Nazrul Islam of Khamar Jamira village in Manoharpur union of Palashbari upazila of Gaibandhar, said, "If some labourers are found, they have to be given much higher wages."