Farmers in the char areas of the Teesta and Dharla rivers are happy as they are getting bumper production from flood-resistant variety of aman paddy in the district this year.

They had given up hope of getting expected production of paddy this year as the aman plants in char areas were under floodwater for 15 to 21 days, but the special variety survived and overcame the natural calamity, farmers said.

Nazrul Islam, 62, of Teesta River char Purbo Dawabari, said, "The aman paddy I cultivated on eight bighas of land were under floodwater for a long time so I gave up hope of getting the expected output, but I got 19 maunds of paddy from each bigha, while it was 15 to 16 maunds in the past."

Samad Miah, 55, of char Dakhkhin Dawabari of Hatibandha upazila said, "I got 102 maunds of paddy from five of 15 bighas and I will start harvesting the crop on the rest 10 bighas within 10 to 12 days," adding that he had never seen bumper production of aman on flood-affected fields.

Nurul Islam, 48, of char Dawabari said he is feeling happy seeing the bumper output of aman paddy on his six bighas of flood-affected land, and is expecting to start harvesting the paddy within two weeks.

Azizul Islam, 55, of Bowalmari in Lalmonirhat Sadar said it rained after the floodwater receded from the paddy fields, giving fresh life to the aman plants. "We always cultivate flood-resistant variety of aman paddy in the char areas to be safe from the floodwater, but the water stayed for a long time this year," he added.

Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said aman paddy on 10 thousand hectares of land got damaged due to flood this year, especially in the Teesta and Dharla river char areas in the district. Aman was cultivated on 84,848 hectares against the target of 81,500 hectares in five upazilas of the district this year, they added.

DAE Deputy Director Bidubhuson Roy said the rain after the floodwater receded was the reason for the bumper production, especially in char areas. Also, it was sunny while the aman plants were under floodwater, so the plants got the nutrients they needed, he added.