Sharecroppers in Haor area are worried about repaying the loans Dhaka Tribune
“How do we celebrate the day? We are busy thinking of recovering our losses and winning bread for our family,” said a disheartened Azad.
Most Haor farmers, who do not have their own land, are highly tensed about how to repay the loans taken from mohajons (wealthy persons who lend money on heavy interest rate), NGOs and banks.Also Read: ‘Haor people facing food scarcity’
Farmer Manik Mia said that they were not only reeling from the losses, but worried about paying back their loan. “I do not know how to manage the money,” he said with tears in his eyes. Like Azad and Manik, there are hundreds of farmers passing their days amid growing agony and frustration as most of them lost their produce after spending up to Tk3,500 for Boro cultivation on each bigha (0.16 hectare) land.
Also Read: President visits flood-ravaged Haor areas
Many even had planted Boro paddy in 100 bighas of land hoping to get a profitable return after the harvest.
Boro was cultivated on around 53,000 hectares of land across the district, of which paddy fields covering 17,432 hectares were submerged, causing the havoc. President Abdul Hamid, ministers and lawmakers have visited different Haor areas in the last two weeks, and admitted that food crisis was severe. Experts think the prices of rice varieties may go up due to the flash flood.Also Read: Flash flood in the Haors may worsen rice price hike
DAE Deputy Director Md Shahjahan said that continuous downpour from March 31 was still taking its toll on the Boro harvest. “The areas close to India are affected heavily,” he stated, adding that they would distribute the relief materials and money after assessing the loss of the farmers separately.
