Aman paddy fields and vegetable fields in Lalmonirhat have been submerged due to heavy rains for several days. Farmers are worried that the aman paddy plants may be damaged due to the long submergence. According to the District Agriculture Extension Department, the target for aman cultivation in 75,290 hectares of land in 5 upazilas of the district has been set this year and 75,575 hectares of land has been cultivated. Of which 360 hectares of aman paddy fields have been submerged in rain water.
In addition, 5 hectares of vegetable and 4 hectares of seed almond fields are also submerged under water. However, the farmers are reluctant to accept the fabricated information of the agriculture department. Their claim is that twice as many aman fields are submerged in water. It is learned that the lower part of Lalmonirhat was inundated due to heavy rains over the last week. As a result, all the aman fields in the low lying areas of 5 upazilas of the district were submerged in water. Middle-aged aman saplings are about to rot due to being submerged in water for 5/6 days in a row.
Most of the paddy fields in the lowlands are still submerged, though the saplings of the aman fields in the relatively highlands have been seen. Aman seedlings in some fields have already rotted. The farmers of the district are worried that the rest of the aman fields will rot if they are submerged in water for a long time. Just drowning doesn't hurt. Water hyacinth and various types of weeds have appeared in many aman fields in the lowlands.
As a result, if the water starts to decrease, it will take a long time to take care of these fields. At the same time the cost of production will also increase. Farmers are also fearing that the production of aman will decline as many seedlings in the field have rotted away. Sati Dola of Hatibandha Upazila of Lalmonirhat, Karpe Dola, Kayar Dola of Aman Production of Chalbala Union of Kaliganj Upazila, Dola of Kalikura, Bookshular Dola of Dalgram, Sarpukur of Aditmari Upazila and Swarnamati Sati river bank of Bhadai Union,
Hundreds of hectares of middle-aged aman paddy fields on the banks of the Teesta and Dharla rivers, including the Mahendranagar rail gate in Sadar upazila, have been submerged. This waterlogging has been caused due to heavy rains and slow down of water. If such a situation persists, the aman saplings of these areas will become empty. Far from meeting their own needs, the farmers will not have to bear the cost of aman. As a result, the farmers of the district are extremely worried about the production of aman.
Abdus Samad of Dakshin Gaddimari village in Hatibandha upazila said they have completed all the care after planting aman paddy. A few days later the sheaf of paddy would come out. At that time their paddy fields were submerged in the rain. The paddy fields of all the farmers of this village have been submerged for 7 consecutive days. Some of the paddy plants have already rotted away. There are no seedlings like planting new ones. Aman paddy will not be available even if newly planted. At the same time it will not be possible to get the next crop. That is why they are not thinking of planting new saplings if the paddy plants rot.
They are also worried that the family will suffer from malnutrition if they cannot bring home the aman paddy. Sadekul Islam of Sinduni Pathantari village in the upazila said that the aman paddy fields planted at great expense were being submerged and rotting. Various types of garbage including water hyacinth floating with rain water are crowding the land. If the water goes down quickly, it will be possible to save some by cleaning the garbage. However, farmers are worried that the water will recede slowly and the rains will continue.
Shamim Ashraf, deputy director of the Lalmonirhat Agriculture Extension Department, said aman fields were submerged in many places. Some of which will survive and some will rot. However, the faster the water recedes, the less damage there will be. Drowning for two weeks in a row is likely to ruin it. He advised to remove the water quickly and when the water recedes, carefully remove the garbage including water hyacinth that has accumulated on the field.
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Very well said brother