Harsh weather has shattered the dreams of farmers who have already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Upazila Agriculture Office said although the yield is good, rough weather might make the production target hard to achieve.
In the current Irri-Boro season, the upazila’s projected target was to produce 1,06,920 metric tonnes of paddy but the crops were exposed to great risks due to persistent rain for the past few days, the Agriculture Office said.
Farmer Hossain Karigor said they were not getting enough workers to harvest paddy due to fear of coronavirus infection and lightning strikes.
“I failed to harvest paddy despite hiring a good number of workers. All I can do now is watch as my golden grains are destroyed,” he said.
Many farmers were seen crying holding the paddy damaged by rain.
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Abu Salam, another farmer of the upazila said they were counting an additional Tk 4,000-5,000 to collect paddy from each bigha due to rapid rain.
He demanded procurement of paddy directly from farmers at reasonable price.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Rois Uddin said: “We tried our best to inform the farmers about the weather forecast and suggested them to cut the paddy due to bad weather.”