Two Months Without Rain in Noakhali: Fields Cracked, Thousands of Acres of Aman Drying Up

A water crisis has hit Aman paddy fields in Noakhali after two months without rain. With no water in the fields, paddy plants on several thousand acres have dried up in the sun and heat before producing grain, and the soil has cracked. Plants that remain green have also failed to yield, with most grains turning to chaff, raising fears of an Aman production disaster in the district this season.

Heavy rain at the start of the season had delayed Aman planting in the district by at least a month. After the rain stopped, farmers in Subarnachar, Hatiya, Sadar, Companiganj and Kabirhat upazilas prepared seedbeds with irrigation and planted Aman in their fields, but the absence of rain at the grain-forming stage has now left them in difficulty.

Visiting several unions of Sadar, Subarnachar and Companiganj upazilas on the ground last Friday, this picture of devastated Aman fields was seen across the area.

Farmer Md Yusuf of Ward 4 of Charwapda Union in Subarnachar planted Aman on eight decimals of land this season. The soil of his entire field has cracked apart and most of the paddy plants dried up before producing grain. Fields that fell under the shade of nearby trees did not scorch, but they too have no expected yield.

Farmer Mafiz Ullah of Char Aman Ullah Union in the same upazila said it had rained almost every day before Aman planting and they had initially given up hope of planting for fear of flooding. After the rain stopped they began transplanting, but there has been no rain for more than two months around the grain-forming period, and with no water source nearby, irrigation is not possible either. Most of the paddy on his one acre of land has dried up, and having planted with bank loans and borrowed money at interest, he said he has broken down mentally.

Farmer Md Murad Uddin of Charwapda Union said the crop on his three and a half acres had scorched because of more than two months without rain, and what little remains has yielded poorly. In his words, there is now no way but to be ruined.

Farmer Abdul Matin of Dharmapur Union in Sadar upazila said he has given up hope of harvesting any paddy this year given the state of the crop. Excessive rain in July prevented him from starting planting on time, and when the grain was due to form, the plants burned for lack of rain.

Farmer Rahim Uddin of Char Elahi Union in Companiganj upazila said farmers borrow every year to grow paddy. Each labourer had to be hired for 1,000 to 1,200 taka for the planting, on top of fertilizer and pesticide costs. Bringing water from far away would now cost an extra 5,000 taka per acre, which they cannot afford to invest, he said.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension, transplanted Aman was planted on 170,622 hectares in the district this year, with a rice production target of 467,950 tonnes set on that basis.

Ashish Kumar Kar, deputy director of the Noakhali district Department of Agricultural Extension, said they are working to increase natural water sources in future and to encourage farmers to plant salt-tolerant varieties. A list of farmers affected in this season's Aman planting is being prepared and will take some time to finalize, after which affected farmers will receive government incentives and support, he said.