Haor farmers rush to harvest as sunshine brings relief after 4 days of rain
Farmers have been busy harvesting and threshing crops since Thursday morning as the sun reappeared in Kishoreganj after four consecutive days of rain.
This has brought some relief to farmers who had been worried about their boro paddy.
Field visits from morning to noon on Thursday in different areas of Nikli, Karimganj, and Bajitpur of Kishoreganj showed workers cutting ripe paddy in the fields.
The harvested paddy is being transported to threshing yards by trucks and other vehicles, both large and small.
Farmers are also turning over the paddy stacked in the yards to dry in the sun.
Many were seen spreading wet straw on roads and open fields for drying. A sense of relief has returned among farmers, and activity is visible everywhere.
One of the largest paddy-drying grounds in the haor region, Majlishpur Khola, located beside the Nikli–Karimganj road, had been silent for the past four days.
During the boro season, hundreds of farmers, women farmers, and children usually remain busy there every day with threshing, drying, winnowing, and parboiling paddy. Since Thursday morning, the yard has come back to life. Around 11:30 am, men and women alike were seen working busily, with hardly a moment to pause.
Farmer Rois Uddin said, “More than the submerged paddy, I was worried about the 500–600 maunds of paddy stacked in the yard. I had piled them up last Saturday for drying. Even one day of sunshine would have been enough. But due to four straight days of heavy rain and storms, I couldn’t come to the yard. Now that the sun is out, I can turn the stacked paddy. Although there has been some damage, I thank Allah for being spared from a major loss.”
In Khoyrat Haor of Karimganj, a group of nine labourers were harvesting paddy together. Their leader, Arju Mia, said, “We came to Kishoreganj from Netrokona two weeks ago to harvest paddy. Things were going well at first, but for four days we did not dare go into the fields due to fear of lightning. Sitting idle for four days has caused us significant losses. We have resumed harvesting from today. We pray for sunny weather in the coming days.”
Sazzad Hossain, Executive Engineer of the Kishoreganj Water Development Board (BWDB), said that with the sun coming out and no rainfall since morning, water levels have risen much less compared to yesterday.
While the Dhanu–Baulai River in Itna rose by 49 centimeters on Wednesday, it increased by 14 centimeters today, Thursday. At Chamra Ghat in Karimganj, the Mogra River, which rose by 63 centimeters yesterday, has instead fallen by 2 centimeters today. The Kalni River in Ashtagram, which rose by 69 centimeters on Wednesday, increased by only 1 centimeter today, Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Meghna River in Bhairab, which had risen by 55 centimeters on Wednesday, has dropped by 3 centimeters today, Thursday.
Since the sun has come out, the BWDB will advise farmers to harvest all their paddy as quickly as possible.
Mohammad Sadiqur Rahman, Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, said that due to adverse weather and heavy rainfall, as of 5:00 pm Wednesday, paddy on 4,754 hectares of land in several upazilas—including Itna, Mithamain, and Ashtagram—had been submerged. The total extent of damage will be known by around 5:00 pm today. However, he expressed hope that if there is no further rainfall, farmers will not suffer extensive losses. If water levels do not rise, some of the submerged land may re-emerge, allowing farmers to salvage part of the crop.