Farmers race against time to harvest Haor paddy

Concern has escalated further as water entered new three districts apart from Netrakona and Sunamganj in the Haor region causing intensive damage to standing Boro paddy.

Fresh areas in Kishoreganj, Sylhet and Brahmanbaria were flooded with upstream water in the last two days, said government offices.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the Haor region, however, sent a proposal to the agriculture ministry to complete harvesting by April 30 to evade any major disaster, said officials.

The monitoring and evaluation unit of the DAE told the FE that a total of 6,700 hectares of land have been submerged so far in Sunamganj, Netrakona, Brahmanbaria, Kisoreganj and Sylhet districts.

Contacted, Additional Director of the DAE Sunamganj Binal Chandra Som said standing crops on 5,040 hectares of land have been washed away in seven upazilas of the district's Haor region, including Dirai and Dharmapasha.

A total of 165,000 hectares of land have been brought under Boro farming in Sunamganj's Haor area this year, he said.

"There is a risk of severe damage until the end of April as only 1.0 per cent rice has ripened so far. We are expecting that more than 80 per cent rice would mature by April 30," he said and added upstream water from Meghalaya and Asam states of India is causing the flood in the Haor region.

Netrakona DAE addition director F M Mobarak Ali said 133 hectares of land was submerged in the Haor part of the district and the situation has improved. He added 40,960 hectares of land in the Haor area was brought under Boro farming this year.

Seven per cent crop has ripened while 45 per cent is on hard dough stage (hard grain), which is a positive sign.

"We have targeted to complete 80 per cent harvesting by April 30 and 100 per cent by May 10," he said.

DAE offices of Sunamganj, Netrakona and other districts have sent a proposal in this regard to the agriculture ministry.

"Combine harvesters from other Haor regions and across the country should be brought to complete harvesting in the affected areas within our set time," an official at the DAE, Netrakona said.

He added according to the proposal, the DAE and local administration will coordinate the initiative.

The flood forecasting and warning centre said a mild to moderate flood might hit the Haor area in next few days while a severe one might occur at the end of this month.

According to the DAE, a total of 0.45 million hectares of land was brought under rice farming in the Haor region in the current Boro season.

The area contributes nearly 10 per cent to the total production of rice in Boro season.

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