Photo: Collected
Even a few days ago, the chars of the Padma were covered in green. Farmers were busy tending fields of pointed gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cauliflower and tomato. Now there is waist-deep water in some places there, while in others the crop seedlings have rotted.
As a last effort, some are trying to drain water from the fields by pumping, while others are uprooting rotten plants. Farmers of the char areas of Paba upazila have fallen into deep worry over such losses before getting the desired yield or harvesting their crops. Their brows are furrowed with the thought of how the capital they invested will be recovered.
A visit to the Alimganj and Kasba char areas of Haripur union in Paba upazila shows vast vegetable fields under water. Early-planted cauliflower, cabbage and tomato seedlings have rotted and been ruined. Fields of pointed gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd and cucumber have also been extensively damaged from being submerged in water.
Many farmers were seen pulling out dead and rotten plants to clear the land. Akbar Ali, a farmer of Kasba village, was seen uprooting rotten pointed gourd plants from one of his plots. He said his pointed gourd on 1 bigha of land, cucumber on 10 kathas and ridge gourd field on 5 kathas have been completely destroyed by the floodwater. As the pointed gourd plants have rotted, all of them have to be pulled out.
Lamenting, he said, ‘The pointed gourd plants that are still somehow surviving are also about to die. If it goes on like this, we will become destitute. How will we survive with our families?’
Talking to local farmers, it was learned that water had remained stagnant on the char in the Kasba area for about seven days. As a result, most of the crops have rotted.
Farmer Md Nazrul Islam said his bitter gourd on about 10 kathas of land, cucumber on 10 kathas, bottle gourd on 10 kathas, cabbage of different varieties on one and a half (1.5) bighas, pointed gourd on 15 kathas and tomato on 5 kathas of land have been damaged.
By Nazrul Islam’s count, he had spent about Tk 10,000 on tomato cultivation, Tk 30,000 on pointed gourd, Tk 10,000 on bitter gourd, Tk 20,000 on cucumber, Tk 15,000 on bottle gourd and Tk 30,000 to Tk 35,000 on cabbage. With these crops submerged, he is facing a big financial loss.
Another farmer, Shahriar Rahman Rasel, has lost about 10,000 of his cauliflower and cabbage seedlings. Had the crops been in good condition, he could have sold produce worth Tk 3 lakh to Tk 3.5 lakh from the field. That hope is now in deep uncertainty.
Rasel said, ‘We are farmers, we do not want any crop to be ruined. We tried our utmost to save the crops, but in the end they could not be saved.’
Pointed gourd grower Shamim Al Mamun has also lost his pointed gourd on 15 kathas of land to the flood on the char. He said the amount of his loss is at least Tk 2 lakh.
He further said now was the main time (peak season) for harvesting pointed gourd. With the field going under water at this time, his loss has increased greatly.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, various crops on a total of 309.59 hectares of land have been damaged by the flash flood in Paba, Bagha and Godagari upazilas of Rajshahi district. These include 45.24 hectares of vegetables, 85.39 hectares of black gram, 11.46 hectares of transplanted Aman, 25 hectares of transplanted Aush, 102 hectares of turmeric, 25 hectares of papaya, 10 hectares of guava and 5.50 hectares of summer onion seedbeds.
In Paba upazila alone, 7.24 hectares of vegetables, 6.39 hectares of black gram and 0.46 hectares of transplanted Aman have been damaged.
In Godagari, 10 hectares of vegetables, 17 hectares of black gram and 25 hectares of transplanted Aush have been damaged. And in Bagha upazila, the damage covers 28 hectares of vegetables, 62 hectares of black gram, 11 hectares of transplanted Aman, 102 hectares of turmeric, 25 hectares of papaya, 10 hectares of guava and 5.50 hectares of summer onion seedbeds.
Zahurul Haque, sub-assistant agriculture officer of Alimganj block in Paba upazila, has visited the damaged land in the Kasba area.
He said the Padma’s water rose because of water coming down from upstream and flooded the char areas. This caused some damage to vegetables. However, farmers have been able to save about 60 percent of the crops by building ridges and draining water from the fields by pumping. Work on preparing a list of the affected farmers is under way.
Farmers are also being given necessary advice on how to take care of the damaged crops after the water recedes.
Mostafa Kamal Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Rajshahi, said crops were damaged as water rose suddenly in the areas surrounded by the Padma river. A full assessment of the overall damage is currently under way; government assistance will be given to the affected farmers as soon as the list is finalised.
