Heavy rains over the past few days have flooded vast stretches of croplands in Tanore, Paba, Mohonpur, and Godagari upazilas of Rajshahi, leaving farmers worried that their crops will yield far less than expected.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rajshahi, Aman paddy has been damaged on 276 hectares of land, vegetables on 175.5 hectares, onion on 48.5 hectares, mustard on 169 hectares, along with several other crops across the district.
With large swathes of Aman fields under water, farmers were forced to dig temporary channels to drain the stagnant water.
Ram Chandan, a farmer from Trimohoni in Mohonpur upazila, said the sudden downpour submerged his paddy field amid an acute labour shortage. "Even after offering higher wages, we can't find labourers to harvest the paddy. The yield will be less than half of what we expected," he said.
Abdul Aziz, a farmer from Maugachi in the same upazila, said his two bighas of paddy land were completely flooded. "Earlier, I used to get 26–27 maunds of paddy per bigha, but now I doubt if I'll get even 14–15 maunds," he said.
Mozahar Mondal, from the Fire Service area in Tanore upazila, said his half-ripe paddy was only a week away from harvest when the rains hit. "Before, we would get 25–26 maunds per bigha. This time, it won't even reach 15–16 maunds," he said. "There are no labourers to cut the submerged paddy, and even if we pay high wages, we can't recover the cost. But we can't leave it in the field either."
Sharmin Sultana, additional deputy director (crops) of the DAE in Rajshahi, said the heaviest damage followed Friday night's rainfall.
"We have already begun visiting affected fields to assess the losses. Water levels have started receding in some areas. If the water doesn't drain by Sunday, we'll have to reassess the situation," she said. "We are advising farmers and planning to support them with the necessary government assistance. Since crop types vary from area to area, we will take region-specific measures."