Md. Abdullah, Jaintapur (Sylhet) Correspondent //

Farmers have hurriedly started harvesting and threshing Boro paddy in Jaintapur upazila of Sylhet amid fears of storms, lightning and floods.

Paddy harvesting and threshing has already begun in several areas of the upazila. Especially due to heavy rainfall in the upstream of Meghalaya for the last four-five days, the main rivers of the upazila, including the Sari River, Kafna River, Bara Gang, Rangpani River and its branches, have already been filled with flood water.

It is learned that due to the forecast of heavy rains in the upstream for the next week, there is also concern among the farmers about cutting and baling the remaining paddy.

For this reason, the farmers are paying advance wages to the paddy harvesting team. So that the paddy in the fields can be harvested quickly and brought home. This picture was found in six unions of the upazila.

It was seen in Fatehpur (Haripur), Chiknagul, Darvast, Charikata, Nijpath and Jaintapur unions of the upazila that paddy has ripened in some places. In some places, it may take another two weeks for paddy to ripen. In this situation, farmers have started harvesting and threshing paddy due to the fear of storms and floods.

Although paddy is produced two to three times a year in the upazila, the yield of Boro paddy is higher. However, the cost of producing this paddy is higher. Usually, farmers of the upazila start threshing Boro paddy from the second week of the month of Baishakh. But this year, due to the adverse weather, they have become busy with threshing paddy quickly with a lot of fear.

Farmers said that the prices of seeds, fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides have increased. Labor wages have also increased several times. Therefore, the cost of production of Boro paddy has also increased.

On the other hand, due to the adverse weather, the sky darkens and is covered with clouds almost every day. If the ripe paddy is hit by hail, Kalbaisakhi or floods, the crop will be completely destroyed. They have started threshing paddy in advance due to that fear. Although they are happy with the yield, they are worried about the price. Although the official price of paddy is fixed at 1,450 taka per maund (40 kg), it is being sold for 1,050-1,100 taka in the local market.

Mahmud Ali, a farmer from Balipara village in Fatehpur (Haripur), said, “Clouds gather in the sky every day. If there is hail this time, not a single paddy can be brought home. So, we started harvesting as soon as the paddy starts ripening. If the weather is good for the remaining days, all the paddy can be brought home. Otherwise, we will have to count the losses.”

Rafiq Ahmed, a farmer from Manikpara village in Darvast, said, “We are happy with the yield. If everything is fine from picking the paddy to selling it, we will be profitable. But the sky has been cloudy for the last few days. If there is hail, we will have to count the losses.”

Abdul Jalil, a farmer from Balipara village in Fatehpur (Haripur), said that he has to pay a team of agricultural workers 10,500 taka to bring home the paddy harvested from every bigha (60 percent) of land. He has to pay 1,500 taka for threshing the paddy in the machine. Last year, the wage for harvesting the paddy was 5,500-6,500 taka and the paddy was threshed for 600 taka. The price of goods has increased, so the wage is higher. Due to the increase in the price of fuel oil and machinery, he has to pay extra money for threshing the paddy.

In this regard, Jaintapur Upazila Agriculture Officer Shamima Akhter said that this season, under the Flood Reconstruction Emergency Assistant Project (FREP) project implemented by the Department of Agricultural Extension, Jaintapur, a demonstration of Seed Village Boro paddy has been given at the farmer level of the district.

He said that although the water level of the river in the upazila has increased due to heavy rains in the last four to five days, the low-lying areas have not been flooded yet. The Upazila Agriculture Office is monitoring the matter round the clock. The paddy harvesting program has officially started a few days ago. If the weather is favorable in the next two weeks, it will be possible to harvest 100% of the paddy in the haor area. Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officers are providing overall guidance to the farmers from the field level and are continuing monitoring activities in this regard.

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