Farmers in haor areas in Netrakona and Mymensingh are worried as they cannot dry the harvested Boro paddy due to the ongoing unseasonal heavy rain.

The rain is unexpected in April and first half of May, farmers said.

Farmers cannot process their harvested paddy due to heavy rainfall, said Khaliajury Sadar union Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer Aminul Islam Khan.

Khaliajury Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Shafiqul Islam said harvesting is almost completed as the farmers were earlier advised to cultivate BRRI-28 as the variety ripens quickly.

“As drying of paddy sometimes becomes very difficult for haor farmers, we are planning to build concrete threshing floors in haor areas and set up drying machines next year, said the official.

Krishnapur Union Parishad Chairman Nazim Uddin Sarker said Boro cultivation was a little bit late this year as the haor water took a long time to recede, causing suffering to the farmers. Normally, the water starts rising in the end of April in haor areas, he said. 

“We cannot dry the paddy or the straw, which is used as cattle fodder round the year,” said Novodip Sarker of Shibpur village in Khaliajury. There will be a fodder crisis if the present situation continues, cautioned the farmer.

Netrakona Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Deputy Director (DD) Bilash Chandra Pal said farmers of Khaliajury, Mohanganj, Kalmakanda and Madan upazilas are facing serious trouble while drying their paddy due to the rain, but the bumper production will not be affected.

The official also said 81,328 hectares of land were brought under Boro cultivation with a production target of 71,700 tonnes of paddy this year, and cultivation exceeded the target.

Around 70 percent of Boro harvesting in the district has been completed so far, said Mymensingh DAE DD Md Abdul Majed. The rest of the crops are of late varieties and will be ready for harvesting within 10 days, he added.

Harvesting is taking a few days more due to bad weather, the DD said. “The farmers of low lying areas of Bhaluka, Trishal, Phulpur and Ishwarganj areas are facing heavy rainfall accompanied by wind,” he added.

The situation could hamper production in some areas, but it will not affect the bumper production, the official said. “Boro cultivation target was 2,60,693 hectares, while it was cultivated on 2,64,600 hectares,” he added.

Rabiul Karim, of Taraha village in Phulpur upazila of Mymensingh, said about 50 percent of the paddy is yet to be harvested in the upazila.

Boro was cultivated on a large scale in Budhyaburi, Khailshakuri, Rangsa, Rowha and Kakni, but the farmers are facing serious trouble due to water-logging in the fields following continuous heavy rain.

The farmers are also facing shortage of labourers as they do not want to work in the rain due to incidents of lightning strikes, he said.

The wage rate of day labourer has also increased sharply, which is also hampering harvesting, said many farmers while talking to this correspondent.