Perturbed by this year’s unusual rainy season pattern, farmer Atiqur Rahman now plans to talk to the people of his village, Kulihar, in the “rice-basket” district Naogaon, for offering special prayers for rain as the Aman season passes dry.
According to the local practice, the farmers plant Aman rice saplings, which meets at least 38% of the country’s total annual rice production, from July 15 (Bengali Srabon 1 to Bhadra 7) to August 22 every year while there is usually plenty of rainwater.
“Most of the farmers here, like other areas in Naogaon, are yet to plant Aman. At this time, the paddy fields turn green with Aman saplings in at least three-inch water,” Atiqur, who cultivates Aman on four acres of land, told the Dhaka Tribune Monday.
“But this year, dust is flying over the paddy fields and cracks have developed. Only Allah can save us. Many of the farmers would starve if the dry spell continues,” he said.
Not only the growers of Kulihar, the farmers in Mohadevpur, Patnitala, Porsha and other parts have been crying for rain, which is essential for Aman cultivation.
Agriculturists and farmers said a continued dry spell in Naogaon, which produced around 541,000 tonnes of Aman rice in 2012-13 fiscal year, and other northern districts, may hamper the country’s food security. Naogaon is the second-largest Aman producer after Dinajpur, which grew over 600,000 tonnes of Aman in 2012-13.
“We don’t know what will happen to us if the dry weather continues in the coming months,” Rafiqul Islam, a contract farmer of Gongachara Upzilla in Rangpur, told Dhaka Tribune Monday.
SM Quamrul Hassan, a meteorologist of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told the Dhaka Tribune that the greater Rajshahi region should have had an average of 354 millimetres of rain in July, the rainiest month in Bangladesh.
“But it had 56% less rain in July. In August, the trend of dry spell has continued,” said Hassan, adding that his department was not certain whether September would bless with adequate rain.
He said the greater Rangpur region should have experienced 416 mm rain in July, but it had 53% less rain. The dry spell there was yet to be over.
The meteorological data for the months of June, July and August (up to 17th) show prevalence of dry spell in 16 northwestern and 10 southwestern food-basket districts which produce more than 50% of the country’s Aman production.
In 2012-13 fiscal, 11.423m tonnes of Aman rice was produced across the country. The 26 Northwestern (greater Rajshahi division) and Southwestern districts (Khulna division) produced around 6.4m tonnes of rice.
Rain is a must for Aman at its different stages, from planting to flowering and maturing. Poor rain would drastically reduce yield.
“The government should provide us electricity free of cost for irrigating the Aman field. Still we have time to plant Aman,” Md Alamin, a farmer of Damurhuda upzilla of Chuadanga district that had 179mm rain in July, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Rafiqul Hassan, a deputy director (monitoring) of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), told the Dhaka Tribune that farmers in some northern region were suffering from the lack of rain.
“But they still have chance to plant Aman. If there is adequate rain in September, it will help Aman cultivation,” said Hassan.
Anil Chandra Sarker, a DAE director (food crop), told the Dhaka Tribune that Aman season starts in July 15 and continues up to September 30.
“Farmers of different places plant Aman in different times. So, rain in September could compensate,” said the director.