Farmers in the haor areas of Sunamganj district are facing severe difficulties in transporting harvested Boro paddy as dilapidated, earthen roads turn movement into a costly and time-consuming ordeal.

During the peak harvesting season, farmers are struggling to carry ripe paddy from deep haor fields to drying yards, often navigating broken and muddy earthen paths.

In many areas, vehicles remain stuck for hours, while accidents are also being reported, increasing transportation costs and reducing farmers’ profits.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), a total of 2,23,511 hectares of land across 137 small and large haors in 12 upazilas of the district had been brought under Boro cultivation this year, with production target of 12,33,517 metric tons of paddy.

Although the government spends crores of money to protect crops, farmers have expressed frustration over the lack of initiatives to repair or construct proper roads for paddy transportation.

Farmers said repeated appeals over the years to repair and pave haor roads have gone unheeded.

Even light rainfall makes the roads almost impassable for tractors, auto-rickshaws, pickup vans and other vehicles.

“Transporting paddy from deep haor areas requires proper paved roads. Due to the lack of roads, we have to spend Tk 30-40 per sack for transportation by trolleys. If the roads had been better, the cost would have been much lower,” said Jamal Mia, a farmer of Shani Haor.

Farmer Faruk Mia of Matiyan Haor said the rising transportation cost has wiped out expected profits. “We are struggling to recover costs amid harvesting cost, labour shortages and poor road conditions,” he added.

Locals said the muddy and risky roads often lead to accidents involving farmers and labourers. In many cases, paddy has to be unloaded before stuck vehicles can be freed.

Tahirpur Sadar Union Parishad Chairman Junab Ali said some temporary repairs have been carried out under TR-KABITA projects, but a permanent solution requires construction of paved roads.

Tahirpur Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Shariful Islam said this year’s paddy production is good, but farmers are facing increased costs due to the lack of durable roads. “Paved roads would significantly ease transportation,” he said.

Haor residents have urged authorities to give equal priority to building durable roads for paddy transport, similar to crop protection embankments, to ensure fair profits for farmers in future seasons.