Farmers are in trouble due to labor crisis, knee-deep water to eat ripe paddy in Ariyal Bill
Photo Collected
Knee-deep water accumulated in the paddy field due to rain. Lack of farmers, high wages. So the farmers of Ariyal Bill of Doha and Nawabganj are struggling to harvest paddy on time. The profit is far away, it is as if they have gone to war with harvesting the crops at home. Many workers are reluctant to go down to the water to cut rice. As a result, the farmers have become disoriented due to the labor crisis.
On the surface, it can be seen that the rain water has accumulated in Nikra, Mijannagar of Doha and Sonatala, Morichapatti and Paiksha areas of Nawabganj. Ripe paddy has fallen into the water. Farmers are trying to cut these paddy in a hurry.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Harunur Rashid, a local farmer, said that workers are not available to harvest paddy in the land. For now, they are trying to call family members and relatives to cut rice and pile it in a high place.
Ayub Hossain, another farmer, said that for cutting paddy, one has to count from 1 thousand 300 taka to 1500 taka per day. After threshing, they have to pay Tk 50 to Tk 100 per sack depending on the distance to be taken by trolley to the open yard. Another 30 to 50 taka has to be paid to bring home from there. In all cases, the burden of additional cost has been pressed on the farmers. But compared to that, the price of rice has not increased. However, they can eat home-made rice and rice throughout the year – this is their hope.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Unable to cope with the pressure of consumption, many people leave the ripe rice to eat. Farmers said that there is nothing to do even though the crop is destroyed in front of their eyes. Iman Ali of Morichapatti area said, ‘The cultivation is difficult to get food rice all year round. There is no benefit in meeting the cost of water pump, electricity cost, labor cost and the labor cost of harvesting the ripe paddy. However, I want to cultivate and eat on the land left by my father and grandfather.
Meanwhile, some are trying to harvest paddy with a harvester. But that attempt is failing as the land is submerged in water. All in all, the Ariyal Bill has hit the farmers in the head this year. They fear heavy losses due to hostile weather and labor crisis.
Nawabganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Asma Jahan told Prothom Alo, “Eri-boro has been cultivated on 10 thousand 844 hectares of land in Nawabganj this year. Most of it is in the Ariyal Bill. Although the yield is good, the farmers are in trouble due to labor shortage and high cost of threshing.
Doha Upazila Agriculture Officer Niaz Mohammad said that in his area, 4 thousand 345 hectares of land has been cultivated according to the target.
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