Persistent rainfall and a surge of upstream water have submerged nearly 7,000 hectares of Boro paddy in Kishoreganj’s haor region, affecting around 21,000 farmers during the peak harvest season.
Agriculture officials said standing crops have gone underwater, while harvested paddy is also being damaged due to a prolonged lack of sunlight needed for drying.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), 6,768 hectares of Boro fields in the haor upazilas of Itna, Mithamain, Austagram and Nikli have already been inundated by rising river water and flash floods.
After several days of continuous rain, farmers briefly hoped for relief when mild sunshine appeared last Thursday. But cloudy skies returned on Friday morning, followed by fresh rainfall through the night. Moderate to heavy rain continued in different parts of the district until Saturday morning.
As a result, paddy harvested in recent days remains piled up in fields, threshing floors and courtyards without drying, causing grain to discolour and rot.
“We are facing losses from both sides,” said Rubel Mia, a farmer from Majlishpur in Nikli upazila.
“The fields are under water, and the paddy we managed to harvest is getting damaged because we cannot dry it.”
Rubel said floodwater submerged around 10 kanis of his land. He hired labourers last Sunday to harvest semi-ripe paddy from about six kanis, but continued rain prevented him from drying the crop.
“Now the paddy has turned black. Even after bringing it home, I could not save it,” he said.
Farmers said labour shortages have worsened the crisis, adding that even wages of up to Tk1,200 a day have failed to attract enough workers to harvest crops still standing in waterlogged fields.
Sajjad Hossain, executive engineer of the Kishoreganj Water Development Board, said water levels in key rivers—including the Dhanu-Baulai in Itna, the Magra in Karimganj’s Chamrabandar area, the Kalni in Austagram and the Meghna in Bhairab—have risen by several centimetres in recent days, though they remain below danger levels.
“In some areas, farmers are cutting embankments on their own to drain excess rainwater from the fields,” he said.
Mohammad Sadiqur Rahman, deputy director of the DAE in Kishoreganj, urged farmers to harvest paddy that is at least 80% mature to limit further losses.
“This is not the ideal situation, but delayed harvesting could lead to even greater losses,” he said.
Kishoreganj is one of Bangladesh’s major Boro-producing districts, with cultivation spanning 168,262 hectares this season across its 13 upazilas. Of that, 104,535 hectares are located in haor areas vulnerable to flash floods during the pre-monsoon period.
