Former State Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar MP inaugurated Boro paddy harvesting festival in Netrokona
Shahidul Islam Rubel,Netrokona
Paddy harvesting has officially begun in Khaliajuri, known as the haor area of Netrokona district, during the current Boro season.
Local MP and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar officially inaugurated the paddy harvesting festival at Bilbilla Haor in Mendipur Union on Saturday afternoon.
Recently, due to heavy rains and hailstorms in the lower reaches of the haor, there is extreme anxiety and fear among the farmers of the haor area due to the fear of widespread waterlogging and early floods. The farmers of the haor area have started harvesting paddy in the low-lying areas since last Wednesday, before the official start of paddy harvesting. They are working day and night to quickly bring home the only crop of the whole year.
The Upazila Agriculture Office said that during the current Boro season, Boro has been cultivated on 20,232 hectares of land in Khaliajuri Upazila. Already, crops on about 5 hectares of land have been damaged due to heavy rain and hailstorm and about 286 hectares of land in various haors are at risk. Farmers said that harvester machines cannot be used due to waterlogging in low-lying land. As a result, additional workers have to harvest paddy manually. There is a risk of crop damage if the water level rises.Upazila Agriculture Officer Md. Delwar Hossain said that about 200 harvester machines are needed to harvest paddy quickly. Currently, 126 machines are working in the field. Efforts are underway to procure the remaining machines.
UNO Nadir Hossain Shamim said that there will be no fuel shortage and fuel supply has been ensured through coordination from the neighboring Madan Upazila and Itna Upazila. According to the weather office, the risk of early floods in the haor area is high in mid-April. Currently, there is a risk of early floods as the sky is cloudy and there is rain and hail almost every day. The big challenge for farmers and the administration is to harvest the paddy quickly and bring it home safely.
