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The ongoing heatwave has made the lives of many miserable, but this has become a blessing for haor farmers as they are able to harvest boro paddy without fear. Till date, nearly 80 per cent of the crops in haor region have been harvested.
This heatwave, however, has triggered serious concerns among farmers who produce vegetables, mango, lychee, and other seasonal crops, as drought damages these crops and the growers have to boost irrigation to protect them.
Amid the situation, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicted heavy rain from May 3 with storms and hail, which are likely to create flash floods in the haor areas.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and Agriculture Information Service (AIS) officials said before the rain, haor crops will be harvested thanks to using combined harvesters, but crops in other areas' are likely to be damaged in case of hail.
To protect the crops, they recommended the farmers harvest those crops, which are already 80 per cent matured.
Speaking to The Business Post on the issue, DAE Field Wing Director Md Tajul Islam Patwary said, “Over 10,000 combined harvesters are working to harvest boro in the haor areas, and whole paddy will be harvested within next two days.
“We made the direction to move harvesters to neighbouring districts, especially hail-vulnerable areas, to help farmers harvest paddy before the rain came. Although only 14 per cent boro have been harvested across the country, we expect it will be nearly 60 per cent before May 4.”
According to the DAE, the government set a target of 2.22 crores tonnes of boro paddy production in 50.40 lakh hectares of land, and farmers cultivated on 50.58 lakh hectares of land.
Among the figures, only 14 per cent of crops are harvested, and 13.47 per cent get maturity [ready for harvest].
Haor paddy better matured
As the haor paddy seedlings were planted earlier, and this year’s environment was in favor of mature paddy, farmers harvested most of the boro in this area.
According to the DAE, in seven districts of the country, which are considered haor, farmers cultivated 9.6 lakh hectares of land for boro, despite the 9.57 lakh hectares target. On the land, nearly 80 per cent of paddy has already been harvested.
“Thanks to the heat wave, paddy gets enough maturity, and quality is good as well. I think farmers will get a good price this season. Farmers, however, faced trouble during the harvesting due to the heat wave,” said DAE field wing director Tajul.
He added that now there is no risk in haor paddy if a flash flood comes in the coming days.
Non-haor paddy at risk
The DAE data shows that nearly 40 lakh hectares of plain land were ploughed for boro, and due to the heat wave, many crops were damaged. Farmers are forced to spend more money to protect their crops. They have to use pesticides, extra irrigation, and fertiliser.
In these areas, crops need rain to get proper nutrition and grow well. But the meteorological department forecasts that hail will be dropped in the coming rain, which is dangerous for paddy.
According to the DAE, among the total 50.40 lakh hectares of boro land, 17.52 per cent of the crops are just in flower position, 20.17 per cent in soft daft, and 23.46 per cent in hard daft.
DAE officials said many paddy varieties will reach maturity for harvest after May 20, though most of these are in the southern part of the country, and there is a little bit of possibility of hail.
But much land, located in Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Tangail, and North Bengal, is likely to be damaged due to the coming days of rain.
Adding that his officials are working to create awareness among the farmers, Tajul said, “We cannot fight with nature. But we can save our crops by following guidelines and forecasts.
“Eighty per cent matured crops are good enough to harvest, and we are recommending harvesting all crops that have already reached minimum maturity.”
Other paddy, fruits, vegetables damaged
Due to the month-long heat wave, vegetable, mango, and lychee’s quality was severely impacted, and production of these crops in this year is likely to decline.
DAE officials said due to the heatwave, the cost of production of these crops has been increased this year, which is likely to impact the consumers as well.
They, however, said as the government is able to achieve the production target of these crops, there is little possibility of a supply shortage despite the heat wave damage.
AIS Farm Broadcasting Officer Ismat Jahan Emy said, “We recommended that the farmers continue irrigation to protect their crops. We are distributing leaflets and notes through digital platforms to create awareness among the farmers.”
The AIS suggested farmers not to go to the field during the middle of the day and during storms.
