Sunamganj farmers salvage submerged rice crops as flood losses mount
Photo Collected
Persistent flooding across the Haor region of Sunamganj has left thousands of farmers struggling to salvage what remains of their submerged boro rice crops. As water levels remain high, many are resorting to a labor-intensive traditional method known locally as “aki,” where farmers dive into the water to manually drag decaying rice stalks onto small boats.
At the edge of the Dekhar Haor in Sunamganj Sadar, farmers were seen processing water-logged crops along the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway. The harvested grain, which has been submerged for up to 20 days, emits a pungent odor of decay. Because the rice is too soft to be processed by mechanical threshers, farmers must resort to manual labor, often using cattle or their own feet to separate the grains from the stalks.
The recovery process is grueling and offers little economic return. According to local farmers, a single bigha of land yields only four to five maunds of rice, and the physical toll—including skin irritation from the contaminated water—has deterred many laborers from assisting. Many residents, like 75-year-old Noor Mia, are attempting the salvage operation more for psychological closure than financial gain, as the harvest is no longer viable for commercial sale. Mia, who lost the majority of his 18-bigha crop to flash floods in late April, described the season as a period of profound hardship that has left many families unable to celebrate the recent Eid festival.
The crisis follows a volatile weather pattern that began in mid-March, culminating in heavy rainfall and upstream mountainous runoff starting April 26. These conditions not only submerged standing crops but also prevented the timely harvesting and drying of rice that had already been cut. Many farmers reported that even after successfully harvesting, their grain rotted in open fields due to a lack of sunlight and storage options.
Official data from the district agricultural department indicates that boro rice was cultivated across 223,511 hectares in Sunamganj this season. While authorities report that approximately 90.5 percent of the crop was harvested by late May, local farmers contend that the actual losses are significantly higher than the initial estimate of 20,550 hectares.
District administration figures estimate that 123,000 farmers have been impacted by the crop failure. Mohammad Omar Faruk, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Sunamganj, acknowledged that the full extent of the damage is still being assessed and is likely to climb as final reports are reconciled. For the region’s farming community, the combination of extreme weather, labor shortages, and logistical hurdles has resulted in one of the most devastating harvest seasons in recent memory.
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