Early floods hit Boro harvest hard

Farmers across the haor basin and coastal districts are facing acute distress after heavy rainfall and early flooding destroyed vast areas of standing crops, dealing a serious blow to food production and the rural economy.

Official estimates show that crops worth more than Tk 3,346 crore have been lost so far, affecting nearly 1.4 million farmers in 23 districts amid Bangladesh recorded 75 per cent above-normal rainfall in April, fuelled by multiple western depressions, while six river stations in northeastern haor regions exceeded pre-monsoon danger levels, meteorologists and flood forecasters said on Saturday.

The worst-hit areas include the northeastern haor districts of Kishoreganj, Habiganj and Sunamganj, along with parts of the southern coastal belt, including Bagherhat.

These regions are vital to the country’s rice supply, particularly for Boro paddy, which is harvested during the dry season but remains highly vulnerable to sudden pre-monsoon floods.

Farmers say the losses have been devastating, especially as many had cultivated paddy using loans in the hope of a good harvest this season.

Instead, relentless rainfall has submerged fields and washed away months of labour and investment.

According to the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, the haor region contributes around 20 per cent of the country’s total Boro production, while Boro accounts for nearly 55 per cent of Bangladesh’s annual rice output, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

The losses therefore carry serious implications for national food security.

In many parts of the northeast, the situation is worsening by the day.

Farmers and local agriculture officials say continuous rainfall over the past several days has steadily increased the amount of land going under water.

Nearly mature paddy is being submerged, while crops harvested in haste are rotting due to the lack of sunlight needed for drying.

Rivers are also swelling under pressure from upstream flow and local rainfall.

Although most rivers have not yet crossed danger levels, officials from the Water Development Board say the rising trend has increased fears of a wider flood crisis.

In Sunamganj, farmer Anwar Hossain said he had cultivated paddy on around one and a half kani of land, equivalent to roughly 60 per cent of an acre, but had been unable to harvest even a small portion.

“This is not just my loss; it reflects the wider situation across the region,” he said, describing how entire fields had gone under water before crops could be brought home.

Similar conditions have been reported from Netrokona, Habiganj and Moulvibazar, where low-lying areas are already inundated.

In Netrokona and Habiganj, a flood situation has begun to emerge, with warnings that conditions may worsen in the coming days.

Agriculture officials said the usual Boro harvesting window in the haor region, from mid-April to mid-May, has been severely disrupted this year.

Persistent rainfall since the second week of April prevented farmers from starting their harvest on time, while earlier preparations were also affected by rain, hailstorms and spells of heavy rainfall from mid-March.

As of Friday, around 65 to 70 per cent of Boro paddy in haor districts had been harvested.

However, a significant portion remains in the fields and is now under imminent threat from advancing floodwaters.

In some areas, officials estimate that nearly 40 per cent of the crop is still unharvested.

Dr Md Sadikur Rahman, Deputy Director of the DAE in Kishoreganj, said intermittent rainfall continued throughout Saturday, accelerating the rate at which farmland was being submerged.

He said the affected area could exceed 7,000 acres by the end of the day.

Farmers who managed to cut their paddy were now struggling to dry it, leading to spoilage.

Despite the challenges, officials are urging farmers to harvest whatever they can wherever conditions permit.

In Sunamganj, local authorities reported that around 18,000 hectares of land remain under water.

While nearly 71 per cent of haor land has been harvested, the overall average, including areas outside the basin, stands at about 60 per cent.

In Netrokona, heavy rainfall and upstream water from the hills caused the Kangsha and Ubdakhali rivers to flow above danger levels.

Nearly 9,500 hectares of land had already been submerged by Friday, according to the local agriculture department.

Farmers have urged the government to purchase paddy directly from them, saying middlemen often dominate the supply chain and leave growers struggling to recover even their production costs.

In response, the government has opened a control room to monitor the situation in the haor regions and coordinate support for affected communities.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre has also issued a 72-hour alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall across the northeastern haor basin.

It said low-lying areas in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj and Netrokona are likely to be flooded within the next three days.

The warning has intensified fears among farmers already racing against time to save what remains of their crops, with many fearing another difficult year ahead.