Rain wreaks massive havoc on vegetables in Rangpur region

FE Team | Published: May 14, 2026 22:17:38

OUR CORRESPONDENT
RANGPUR, May 14: Vegetable cultivators in different areas of five districts under Rangpur agriculture region are worried as continuous heavy rainfall over the past couple of weeks has caused extensive damage to the crops in fields.
Many farmers told The Financial Express that their vegetable fields including pumpkin, bitter gourd, cucumber, ridge gourd, teasel gourd, okra, bottle gourd, long bean and different leafy vegetables have gone under water due to torrential rain.
Peasants said that prolonged inundation is severely affecting vegetable fields, leading to massive crop damage and reduction in yields.
Besides, many green chilli fields of the region have perished owing to prolonged water-logging, caused by heavy rainfall.
It is learnt, due to prolonged submersion, many vegetable fields across the region are affected, leading to rotting diseases such as root rot and stem rot.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Rangpur, vegetables have been cultivated on 26,156 hectares of land in five districts under Rangpur agriculture region this season. The districts belonging to the region are Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Gaibandha and Lalmonirhat.
Visiting different areas of the region, the FE correspondent found many vegetable fields in different areas have already been submerged due to continuous downpour.
Altaf Mia, a farmer of Ranipukur area in Mithapukur upazila, told The Financial Express that this year he cultivated cucumber on 40 decimals of land with the hope of a good harvest. But his optimism was shattered by torrential rainfall that wreaked havoc on his vegetable field. A major portion of his vegetable field has already been spoilt by root rot and stem rot diseases, caused by heavy downpour.
Solaiman, a peasant of Sadyapushkorni area in Rangpur Sadar upazila told the FE he cultivated bitter gourd on 45 decimals of land. But his entire mature vegetable field is now under water.
If the situation lasts too long, he may not be able to save his bitter gourd field, as roots of the vegetables have already begun to rot, triggering concern of huge damage.
He said that this season, he could earn only Tk 10,000 from the sale of his produce that he harvested initially.
But now he is concerned about his bitter gourd field due to stagnant water caused by the heavy downpour, he added.
Meanwhile, cultivators said that due to ceaseless downpour, the use of pesticides on their vegetable fields is hindered. Consequently, they are not able to save their vegetables from being damaged, resulting in huge crop damage and financial losses.
Talking to The Financial Express, Md. Sirajul Islam, DAE additional director in Rangpur region, said most of the vegetable fields in the Rangpur agriculture region are on high and mid-high land.
Therefore, water-logging does not last very long in the areas, allowing the vegetable fields to survive.
He, however, said that field-level agri-officials are visiting different vegetable fields to observe the situation. He hoped that the situation will become normal soon.
He added that cultivators are also being advised to drain stagnant water from their fields to prevent the vegetables from getting spoilt.
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