Hailstorm shatters hopes days before boro harvest in Teesta–Brahmaputra chars

Soleman Ali, 70, a farmer of Char Daukir on the Teesta River in Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat, had been preparing to harvest his boro paddy this week. He cultivated paddy on eight bighas of land and maize on 12 bighas this year, with all his paddy fields already ripened.

But a hailstorm last night damaged nearly half of his crop just before harvest. This morning, he was seen sitting beside his paddy field.

“The yield had been very good this year. I had expected 22 to 23 maunds of paddy per bigha. Everything was finished before I could bring it home,” he said.

Moksed Ali, 60, a farmer of Char Jatrapur surrounded by the Brahmaputra River in Kurigram Sadar upazila, also lamented that his dream was shattered just one day before bringing the crop home. More than half of the paddy on his four bighas of land was damaged by the hailstorm.

“We farmers are only crying now,” Moksed said. “We do not get fair prices for paddy, while the prices of seed, fertiliser, fuel and pesticides are high. On top of that comes natural disasters. After so much hardship, we are losing the crop at the final moment.”

This way, farmers in the char areas of the Teesta and Brahmaputra rivers in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram reported extensive damage to ripe boro paddy following the sudden hailstorm, which continued for nearly four hours throughout last night. In many areas, the storm struck just one to three days before harvesting.

According to farmers across the region, they cultivate crops year after year while battling river erosion, drought, floods, and labour shortages. This year, they had hoped for some relief as the yield was good. But that hope has now been shattered by the hailstorm.

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Photo: Star

They also said that many families use money from selling this paddy to buy rice for the whole year, support their children’s education, repay debts and bear the expenses of the next cropping season.

“If I had one more day, the loss would not have been this severe. I could not harvest because labourers were unavailable, and now everything is gone,” said Matiar Rahman, another farmer from Char Begumganj in Kurigram’s Ulipur upazila.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said that while there has been extensive damage to ripe paddy in the char areas following the hailstorm, the exact extent of the damage has not yet been determined.

Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy director of DAE in Kurigram, said paddy cultivation starts earlier in char areas, so harvesting also begins there before mainland areas.

Field officials have been visiting various areas since this morning to collect data on the losses.