The rotting smell of paddy in the long sun, the sorrow of the farmer in Howar remains

Photo Collected

A+ A A-

There is no more paddy in the Haor of Sunamganj. Everything is under water. The paddy has rotted while lying on the bottom. But there is still some paddy in the higher part. Farmers are cutting them. And those who do not have land on higher ground, they are trying to harvest some of the half-ripe paddy under the water. A boat is needed for this. It is like a river, somewhere more than that water has to be harvested. This is a big problem for the farmers.

Farmers are trying hard to dry the paddy kept in the Haor canal due to continuous sun for several days. Seedlings have also grown in these paddies, and many of them have been wasted in piles due to not being able to dry them. The smell was caught in that rice. The smell of rotting paddy in the sun is fading now, but the farmers’ sufferings still remain. Meanwhile, the Water Development Board (PUBO) has predicted heavy to very heavy rains again next week.

Farmer Abdul Matin’s (60) paddy of one and a half bigha of land is still under water in the district’s Vathar Haor. Abdul Matin, who is completely dependent on rice, is trying to harvest that rice with his college-going son Junayed Ahmad on Monday afternoon. For this he hired a small boat for one day for one thousand rupees. Father and son together were cutting paddy from deep haor and keeping it in haorpad. The sun is hot on the head.

Talk to Abdul Mateen to keep rice. He said that out of 9 bighas of land, 4 bighas have sunk due to flooding at the beginning of Baisakh. After that, he cut rice of a little more than three bighas of land. Later, the flood water came and washed away all the rice in the rest of the land. Now that it was sunny, he was trying to harvest the paddy under the water. This farmer’s house is in Rabarbari village of Sadar upazila.

Going to Howar, it can be seen that farmers are more busy in drying paddy. Some are letting the cut wet paddy dry. After drying they are threshed in machines. Some people were cutting the rice that had sunk in the deep water and putting it on the bank. But this number is less. Because many have given up hope of drowned rice.

Farmers said, there is paddy under water for a week. There will be no profit even if that paddy is cut. Again, because there is too much water in some places, it is not possible to cut. There is a shortage of boats and workers. Even if it does not rain during the day, the suffering of the farmers is not reduced due to the rain at night. Paddy takes more time to dry due to waterlogging. But gradually the farmers are less busy in Haor. Many people are disappointed and have returned from Hawar with the trouble of not getting the harvest. Farmers say that the rotting smell will go away from the haor. Water will come during the rainy season. But the pain of the farmer’s mind will remain.

Farmer Abdul Matin said during the interview that the workers do not cut the rice under water. For this, one thousand rupees is required for a day’s wages. No money in hand, no people available. So he is trying to spend as much as he can with his son. Matin was saying, ‘All the land cannot be cut. Can’t stay in water for long. Body itches. The water also smells of rotten rice. Son Junayed Ahmad said, “This rice is all mine.” House expenses, my education — everything is rice. For this, I am also in love with my father.

Neelpur village farmer Abu Bakar (55) was busy drying hay in the sun. This farmer said, this time the harvest of Haor farmers has gone. With the human crisis, there will also be a food crisis. If the rice does not rise, the straw does not rise.

Mohammad Ali (67) similarly cut one bigha of paddy land from under the water and piled it four days ago. He could not thresh the newly cut rice as he was busy drying the previously cut and threshed rice. These rice seedlings have grown from the pile. He was spreading that paddy in the sun. This farmer was showing the seedlings growing in paddy and saying, ‘Which one should I do?’ Oi Raid, te ou megh. I have read my big lesson. We would not suffer anymore.’

Exotic Fruit Varieties Drive Financial Turnaround for Bangladeshi Family Farm

Read More

Next to him, farmer Salam Mia (60) and his wife Saira Begum were removing the wet tangled paddy from the pile. Sayera sighs and says, ‘And how many days, father, how is it cold? You don’t believe it either, and no one cares about us either. We will get our trouble.

This time 2 lakh 23 thousand 511 hectares of 137 Howre Boro plantations in Sunamganj district. The production target of paddy is about 14 lakh metric tons. Among the cultivated land, the amount of land in haor (low land) is 1 lakh 65 thousand 275 hectares, non-haor (in high land) is 58 thousand 236 ha.

According to the Agriculture Department, 1 lakh 43 thousand 479 hectares of paddy has been harvested in Howar till Sunday. 36 thousand 935 hectares in Non-Howar. On an average, 80.71 percent of rice has been harvested in Sunamganj so far. According to that, there is still 20 percent of paddy in Howar. 16 thousand 395 hectares of land lost due to heavy rains and landslides. Local farmers, however, say the damage is much greater.

In this context, President of Sunamganj Haor and River Protection Movement Mohammad Raju Ahmed said, “I don’t understand why the agriculture office shows less damage. There is no more paddy in Howar, which is on a somewhat higher ground. Half of Haor’s paddy has been damaged.

However, Mohammad Omar Farooq, deputy director of the District Agriculture Extension Department, told Prothom Alo on Monday afternoon that the amount of damage will increase. They have not yet determined the final damage.

The Sunamganj Water Development Board (PUBO) said on Monday that there is a forecast of heavy and heavy rain ahead. So paddy can no longer be stored anywhere high and low in Howar. What is there, must be cut.

The executive engineer in charge of Paubo flood forecasting and warning center. Manjur Rahman said that there is a forecast of rain in Sunamganj for the next week. Out of this, heavy to very heavy rains may occur on May 14 to 18. This will increase the water in Sunamganj’s rivers and rivers.

Sunamganj Paubo Executive Engineer (Poor Division-2) Mohammad Emdadul Haque said that since heavy rain is forecast, farmers are requested not to keep paddy in Haor. All must be cut quickly. He said that this time 602 km crop protection dam has been constructed and renovated in 710 projects at the cost of Tk 145 crore in Howar of Sunamganj.