Haor floods wipe out Tk 1,047 crore crops: agri ministry

Rains, floods, and upstream water inflows from April 26 to May 4 have devastated crops worth about Tk 1,047 crore across seven haor districts, according to data collected by the agriculture ministry.

A total of 49,073 hectares of cropland in the haor areas, accounting for 10.78 percent of the total haor land, has been destroyed, said Mohammad Zakir Hossain, senior information officer of the ministry.

He told The Daily Star this evening that the loss of Boro rice amounts to 2.13 lakh tonnes, while around 2.36 lakh farmers have been affected.

In seven haor districts, Boro has been cultivated on 4.55 lakh hectares of land, with harvesting so far completed on 80 percent, according to Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) data.

The Boro acreage stood at 50.50 lakh hectares in the current fiscal year of 2025-26, posting a 3.29 percent year-on-year increase, according to provisional DAE data.

Production increased from 2.01 crore tonnes in FY22 to 2.13 crore tonnes in FY25. The DAE has targeted a production of 2.24 crore tonnes of Boro rice for the current season.

Boro is the dry-season irrigated rice crop planted from December to early February and harvested from April to June. It accounts for nearly 55 percent of Bangladesh’s annual rice output each year.

Md Salim Khan, additional secretary for the extension wing at the Ministry of Agriculture, told The Daily Star that their assessments indicate around 11 percent of crops in the haor area have been affected.

Khan also clarified that around 17.5 percent of the Boro haor area is considered at risk. Regarding harvesting, he said nearly 80 percent of the paddy has already been harvested.

He explained that harvesting in the haor region is usually completed within the season, but this year damage occurred due to embankment failures and heavy rainfall in April.

He said the government has already taken necessary initiatives in response to the situation, adding that lists of affected farmers are being prepared and the process will be completed within a day.

According to him, the support process is expected to begin within two to three days and continue for three months to help farmers recover.

Farmer Faizul Islam from Bojorpur haor in Gopdighi Union of Mithamain cultivated paddy on five acres of land.

Two acres of his paddy fields were submerged in water, while he harvested rice from three acres.

However, even that harvested paddy sprouted and was ruined while stored in the threshing yard, he said.

His total loss amounts to 300 maunds of paddy.

Islam said he is deeply worried after taking loans from local lenders at high interest rates.

He said: “How will I repay this money now? If I have to, I will have no option left but to sell my land, as there is no other way out.”