Northern region may miss aman for poor rainfall

22 July 2009, 17:00 PM

Star National Desk

Transplanted aman saplings are dying in a dried up field in Nilphamari district while grown up plants are getting burnt, bottom, in the sunlight as the rainy season continues with scanty rain.Photo: STAR

Cultivation of aman, traditionally considered profitable for the framers, is like to face a serious setback due to the drought-like situation prevailing in northern region during the ongoing rainy season. Most of the farmers in eight northern districts could not transplant aman seedlings in their lands due to absence of rainfall for over a month while the seedlings transplanted earlier are turning reddish, reports our Nilphamari correspondent. Besides, farmers cannot rot their matured jute plants as the ponds and canals have almost dried up. The average rainfall recorded in eight northern districts till the third week of July is only 136 millimetre (mm) while it was 547mm in the same period last year, said sources at the regional office of AED in Rangpur. With the help of diesel or electricity-run shallow pumps, farmers have been able to transplant Aman saplings only on 10,374 hectares of land in the region comprising Rangpur, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon Panchagarh and Nilphamari districts while there is target of cultivating aman on 10,45,950 hectares of land to produce 23 lakh tonnes of rice this year, said AED sources. “Farmers are dependent on rainwater for aman cultivation. For high yield, aman saplings are to be transplanted from beginning of July to first week of August. Transplantation after the period would result in drastic fall in yield,” said AED Deputy Director Hazrat Ali. During a recent visit to different villages including Mirganj of Nilphamari, Chandanbari of Panchagarh and Mohishkhocha of Lalmonirhat district, this correspondent saw that farmers tilled their lands much before but the soft earth of the tilled lands have turned hard for want of rainwater. In some fields where transplantation completed earlier saplings are turning reddish to die within a few days. Farmers informed that it is a must to keep water in the land for few weeks more after planting aman saplings. In many places saplings in the seed beds have become too old to be transplanted. If tender saplings of 30-35 days old are not transplanted then poor output will come. The situation will turn grave if the farmers cannot transplant aman saplings within next 15 days, Deputy Director of AED, Nilphamari, Younus Ali said. Irrigating lands for Aman cultivation would be too expensive, several small and medium farmers said. Our Pabna Correspondent adds: Farmers in many places of the district are yet to make seedlings for Aman paddy due to lack of rainwater during the rainy season, sources said. AED sources said at least 55 thousand hectares of lands would be taken under Aman cultivation this year with production target of 1.23 lakh metric tonnes. Although there is the irrigation scheme, the farmers are mostly dependent on rainwater to cultivate Ropa-aman, Md Shahin, an agriculture official of Pabna AED, said. During visit to different areas of the district, this correspondent found that seedbeds are drying due to lack of the rain while many others could not even start preparing the seedbeds. Our Dinajpur Correspondent reports: Faced with scanty rainfall coupled with acute shortage of power, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Joypurhat districts have seen only two per cent of aman paddy transplantation so far while the figure was about 60 per cent this time the last year. Growers of other crops including sugarcane and maize are also worried due to the draught-like situation, said officials of Panchagarh AED. Dinajpur Met official sources said the rainfall was 250mm last year while 60mm rainfall has been recorded this year. The situation is alarming as sufficient water for the paddy crop was not available due to long and frequent power cuts. Aman production in Mymensingh district might face a serious setback if the ongoing rainy season continues without rain for a few more days, reports our correspondent. Despite less rainfall in May this year farmers prepared their seedbeds through irrigation with their own efforts but they are now waiting for rain to transplant their aman saplings in the fields, said Md Shafiqul Islam, sub-assistant agriculture officer of Dhubaura, a bordering upazila of the district. A total of 2,65,000 hectares of land have been brought under aman cultivation in all 12 upazilas of the district but transplantation was done on some 1226 hectares of land till July 21 in eight upazilas of the district, said AED sources. Only 146 millimetre (mm) rainfall was recorded in the district till July 21 which was 522 mm last year, shows the AED records.