30-minute hailstorm ravages 852 hectares of boro in Netrokona

A 30-minute hailstorm has devastated boro paddy on 852 hectares in the haor areas of Madan upazila in Netrokona, compounding farmers’ losses after earlier waterlogging.

The storm, which struck around 9:30pm on April 7, hit four unions – Gobindashree, Tiyashree, Nayekpur and Madan – where semi-ripe paddy suffered extensive damage, according to the upazila agriculture office.

The latest losses come amid a difficult season for farmers in the district, where crops had already been affected by heavy rainfall and waterlogging in recent weeks.

Madan Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star that of the 17,650 hectares brought under boro cultivation in the upazila, 852 hectares were damaged by the hailstorm. An additional 211 hectares had earlier been affected by waterlogging.

“About 5,500 farmers have incurred losses due to the hailstorm,” he said.

Preliminary estimates by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the district show that hailstorms also occurred in Mohanganj and Khaliajuri upazilas, although the worst damage was recorded in Madan.

Separately, earlier spells of heavy rain had submerged 1,072 hectares of boro paddy across four upazilas in the district – 90 hectares in Barhatta, 480 in Kalmakanda, 211 in Madan and 291 in Khaliajuri, officials said.

Farmers in the affected areas said the back-to-back weather shocks have left them in distress.

Nixon, a farmer from Kadamshree village in Gobindashree, said he had expected to harvest his crop within days before the hailstorm struck.

“Just 30 minutes of hailstorm destroyed everything. Now I have no option but to survive by taking loans,” he said.

Foyez Ahmed, a farmer from Tiyashree, said part of his crop had already been damaged by rainwater before the hailstorm hit. “I don’t know how I will support my family in the coming days.”

Another farmer, Ishaq Mia of Saitpur village, said he cultivated paddy on eight acres. “If I harvest the rest of the crop with hired labourers, I won’t be able to recover the cost.”

Madan Upazila Nirbahi Officer Bedoboti Mistri said authorities are preparing a list of affected farmers and plan to provide incentives and assistance.

Rakibul Hasan, additional deputy director of the DAE in Netrokona, said repeated natural disasters have pushed farmers in the district into a severe crisis.

He said preliminary estimates suggest around 15,000 farmers across the district have been affected by waterlogging and the recent hailstorm.