A sudden hailstorm accompanied by torrential rain has damaged hundreds of hectares of ripe Aman paddy and early-season potato fields in Rangpur, leaving farmers fearing heavy losses.
The downpour continued for nearly two hours on Wednesday night, inundating farmland in Mithapukur and Pirgachha upazilas. Harvested paddy left in the fields has also been submerged, raising fears of rotting if water cannot be drained quickly.
At Baladipukur village in Mithapukur, vast stretches of farmland remained under one to one-and-a-half feet of water yesterday.
Farmer Solaiman said he had cultivated Aman on four bighas and harvested the crop four days earlier. However, the harvested paddy remained stranded in the field after the downpour.
He has hired a shallow machine to drain the water, fearing the paddy will rot if it remains submerged.
Janab Ali Mondal, a farmer from Bairagiganj, said he had cultivated Aman on nine bighas. He had harvested paddy from two bighas, while hailstorms had knocked grains off the stalks in the remaining seven bighas, which were still partly unripe.
Similar damage has been reported in Anandnagar, Deuti and Parul areas of Pirgachha. Early-season potato fields in Damdama, Bairagiganj and surrounding areas of Mithapukur have also been inundated.
Farmers are trying to drain the water using shallow machines and have called for an immediate assessment of the damage and government assistance.
Saiful Alam, acting deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Rangpur, acknowledged the heavy rainfall and hailstorm. He said he had received reports of damage to paddy and early-season potato fields in parts of Pirgachha but was not yet aware of the extent of damage in Mithapukur.
He said field-level agricultural officials were advising farmers on ways to minimise losses.
According to the department, Aman was cultivated on 166,950 hectares in Rangpur this season, with a production target of 548,000 tonnes of rice. Early-season potato cultivation was targeted at 3,450 hectares.
