Farmers busy harvesting Boro paddy in a Sunamganj haor area — FE Photo SYLHET, Apr 28: Farmers in Sylhet region have embarked on the season's Boro paddy harvest in full swing.
In some of the haor areas of Sunamganj and Habiganj districts, where early varieties of the paddy were cultivated, some farmers began it sporadically amid fear of crop damage while the region has experienced early rains with hailstorms for days already. If it happens again, the situation may go troublesome, the peasants feared.
Meanwhile, an official at the Sylhet divisional office the Department of Agricultural Extension told this correspondent that farmers in the haor areas have harvested 14 per cent of Boro paddy while in the entire region it is seven percent only.
The DAE has already requested the farmers in haor areas to harvest 80 per cent of the ripe paddy as there is apprehension of calamities.
According to reports from Sunamganj, some paddy fields in Jagannathpur, Shantiganj, Jamalganj, Chhatak and Tahirpur upazilas were inundated after several days of rainfall till Saturday.
Farmers said over a hundred hectares of land have already gone under water in Kanglar haor in Sunamganj Sadar upazila while 200 hectares were in the face of being inundated.
Bimol Chandra Shome, deputy director of the DAE, Sunamganj, said crops on the inundated land would be saved if it rains no more in next few days. Loss would be less if the water recedes in time, he added.
He said harvesting is expected to be completed in two weeks as 975 combined harvesters are working to ensure quick reaping of paddy in the region.
Due to rains of several days, crops on over a thousand hectares of land have been inundated in Shialmata haor, Jawar haor and Dekhar haor in Sunamganj Sadar, Pakhimara and Jamkhola haor in Shantiganj upazila.
Besides, Najarkhali embankment in Tahirpur upazila is threatened with the rise of water level in the hilly river.
Swelling of the river is also threatening over 5,000 hectares of cropland in Tanguar haor and around. Consequently, locals are now frantically trying to save the crop.
Mamun Hawlader, executive engineer of the Water Development Board (WDB), Sunamganj, said that they had completed construction and repair of 591 km embankment at a cost of about Tk1,000 million (Tk100 crore) considering safety of Boro paddy.
On the other hand, Bijon Sen Roy, central general secretary of the citizens' forum 'Haor Banchao Andolan' alleged that the WDB failed to complete work of the crop protection scheme in time.
Alleging corruption he said flawed work might cause trouble with damage of the structures even with moderate rains. He demanded that the authorities should be more alert for saving crops from the clutches of calamities. Boro paddy has been cultivated on about 490,000 hectares of land in Sylhet region this year.
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