Hailstorm woes for Boro farmers

It is time for farmers to harvest the Boro crop, but in Mithamoin and Itna Upazilas of Kishoreganj, they are a worried lot now.

Three hailstorms this week and blight have damaged Boro paddy in at least 30 villages of these two Upazilas -- in some places more than half the standing paddy crop is lost.

Boro paddy in 10 villages was most severely affected due to the hailstorm that lasted for about one hour on Saturday, said Ghagra Union Parishad Chairman Bulbul Chowdhury.

“Earlier we witnessed a good yield. But this year 50 percent of paddy has been damaged by the hailstorm,” he said.

Besides, there was blight in the paddy in some villages, he said.

Chowdhury urged the government to provide assistance to the farmers of the district.

Phul Miah, a well off farmer of Itna village, said he had cultivated Boro on 18 acres of land but most of the paddy was damaged due to hailstorm.

“I won’t get more than 4000 kgs (approximately) paddy against an expectation of 10,000 kgs,” he said.

In some villages paddy was affected with blight.

Around 40 percent of hybrid and 80 percent of Bri-28 varieties of paddy got affected in some unions.

Farmer Sheikh Farid Uddin of a village in Itna Upazila said most of his paddy cultivated on four acres of land was damaged by the blight.

“I think I won’t get even 500 kgs of paddy against an expectation of 3,000 kgs,” Farid said.

Many farmers of neighbouring villages also appeared frustrated.

Osman Bhuiyan of Shimulbak village said there was blight for not making seedbed in due time and fault in sowing.

He blamed field level agricultural officers for not making farmers aware of that.

Locals said in most cases the Boro farmers borrow money at a high interest from local money lenders.

Sadi Miah, a farmer of Barhi village, cultivated his 25 acres of land borrowing Tk 50,000 for four months at 50 percent interest.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), 12,000 tonnes of Boro yield was the production target in Itna and Mithamoin Upazilas.

Hybrid and early varieties of Boro was cultivated on 916 hectares of land and target yield was set at 67,809 tonnes, it said.

Dr Md Niazuddin Pasha, senior technical officer of SAARC Agriculture Centre in Dhaka, told bdnews24.com the farmers were severely hit due to hailstorm and blight.

He urged the ministry of agriculture to make farmers aware on preparing seedbed and setting time for planting to get rid of blight.

Pasha also appealed to the government to assess the extent of damage and rehabilitate the farmers.

However, the DAE is reluctant to comply with that.

DAE’s Kishoreganj district Deputy Director Nirmal Kumar Saha admitted to damage of paddy due to blight and hailstorm but he said these natural disasters were quite regular in the Haor region.

Blight happens due to cold for planting seedlings without knowing the right time to do it, he said.

“Some paddy had been damaged but that would not stop us achieving the target,” Saha claimed.

He denied the allegation that DAE did not inform farmers on making seedbeds and planting seedlings.

“Our field level officers suggest that farmers should prepare seedbed during the first 15 days of Agrahayan (the sixth month of Bangla year).

“But the farmers make seedbed and plant seedlings beforehand fearing flood for which blight occurs,” the DAE official said.