Farmers in Bagari village of Jhalakathi's Rajapur upazila lost all of their produce as a nor'wester coupled with hailstorm wreaked havoc on their melon field a week ago.
Fifteen farmers of the village cultivated watermelon, melon [locally known as bangi]and seasonal vegetables on 10 bigha of land spending over Tk6 lakh, said the farmers.
Although prices of the vegetables and fruits are low due to fall of demand triggered by the coronavirus situation, farmers hoped they could at least feed their families and pay back their loans.
However, all of their hopes vanished as a hailstorm and nor'wester destroyed their produce in several hours.
Mizan Shikdar, one of the farmers, said: "I had expected an income of at least Tk100,000 for our cultivation on per bigha of land. But the hailstorm took everything from us. We had to take loans for buying pesticides, seeds, and fertilizers. Now we are worried about paying back the loans."
Atik Hawlader, another victim farmer of the village, said: "Apart from watermelon and melons, we had pumpkins, cucumber, bitter gourd and a few other vegetables on our field. But the hailstorm caused severe damage to these vegetables and left us in great trouble.
"We had a bumper yield of vegetables and fruits. But now if we don't get subsidies or loans on easy terms from the government we will fall into a great crisis," said another farmer Razzak Talukdar.
Reajullah Bahadur, agriculture officer in Rajapur upazila, said: "We maintain frequent contact with farmers about their situation. But farmers in Bagari village have not contacted us yet. After a field visit we will help the farmers as much as we can."