Thousands of farmers in four unions of Pabna's Chatmohar upazila are fearing a catastrophic crop failure due to the rapid decrease of rainwater from the beel areas before the of Bona Aman paddy comes out. These rice plants are about 10 to 12 feet tall. Usually the height of the paddy plant also increases with the flow of water. Irrigation is not required in this paddy cultivation.
In the middle of the month of November, the Bona Aman paddy get ripe. But this year, from the beginning of October, the water in the beel started declining rapidly and the paddy fields started to dry up in a few days. The paddy fields in Handial, Nimaichara, Bilchalon (partial) and Chaikola Union (partial) areas of the upazila have almost dried up.
According to the Upazila Agriculture Office, Aman paddy was sown in 11,020 hectares of land in 11 unions and one municipality area of Chatmohar this season. Due to lack of rainfall at the beginning of the monsoon season, 690 hectares of sown Aman paddy is on the verge of being destroyed. Paddy remains in 10,130 hectares of land. About 1000 hectares of paddy land has been damaged so far due to rapid depletion of rain water.
Ratan Hossain, a farmer from Bardanagar village in the upazila, said he has cultivated sown Aman paddy on five bighas of land this year. Land cultivation, seeds, fertilizers and weeding have already cost Tk 4,000 per bigha. It will cost another two thousand Tk per bigha to cut the paddy and bring it home. In all, it is costing six thousand Tk per bigha.
The land has dried up before the sheaf of paddy came out. If it rains occasionally, the farmers of this area can get an average yield of four to five mounds per bigha.
Aman can be found in the mass season at a price of Tk four thousand. Aman farmers in at least 30 villages in the area will lose Tk 2,000 per bigha.
He further said that due to uncontrolled water management in the area, in some years the young paddy seedlings get damaged by drowning at the beginning of the monsoon and in some years the paddy plants dry up and die at the beginning of October month. Year after year, the farmers of this area have been cultivating Bona Aman paddy at their own risk.
Chatmohar Upazila Agriculture Officer Masumbillah, said that local varieties of Aman paddy including Dhaldigha, Ajaldigha, Jirashail and Kalboran are cultivated in these low lying areas of Chatmohar. Due to uncontrolled floods, farmers in the area are often affected. However, if it rains occasionally, the yield of paddy will be less.
