United News of Bangladesh

Once a vibrant fixture of rural Bengali culture, the traditional ‘Nabanna Utsab’, the festival celebrating the first harvest, is quietly fading from many villages across Lalmonirhat, according to local residents. With the end of the Bangla month of Hemanta and the touch of approaching winter, farmers across the district are busy harvesting Aman paddy. Golden fields still stretch across the horizon, carrying the familiar scent of new grain, yet the festive celebration that once marked this season is rarely seen nowadays. Villagers said that although the joy of harvesting remains, the communal spirit of sharing the first cooked rice from the new crop—a hallmark of the ‘Nabanna Utsab’ —has largely diminished. “We heard from our parents how festive the day used to be. People would go to each other’s houses to eat the first rice. But now we hardly see such practices,”said Saiful Islam, an SSC student from Shialkhowa village in Kaliganj upazila. Recalling the joy and celebrations of the past, 70-year-old farmer from Aditmari upazila, Shafique Mia said they were poorer 30 years ago, but the joy of the new harvest was greater. “We used to make pitha, polao and share with neighbours after offering the first rice to the imams. Now income has increased, but happiness has decreased. The young generation doesn’t even know what ‘Nabanna’ really means,” he said. Farmer Jomir Ali, drying paddy in the field, shared a similar memory. “We used to cook rice from the new crop and give the first plate to the imam of the mosque for blessings. We did doa and ate together. That tradition is almost gone now,” he said. Read more: Continuous rain flattens half-ripe paddy in Lalmonirhat, farmers worried Saleha Begum, another elderly villager, said people once respected tradition and valued togetherness.

As the Cyclonic storm ‘Mocha’ is brewing over the Bay of Bengal, panic gripped the residents of coastal areas of Bagerhat district due to the vulnerable state of dyke at several points. Residents of Sharankhola, Baleshwar, Pashur in Mongla and Panguchhi in Morelganj upazilas are passing sleepless nights, worrying over when and where the storm and high tide will hit. According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Mocha is likely to make landfall on Cox’s Bazar coast by Sunday (May 14). If the water rises 5 feet above normal, a number of villages will be flooded as 11km of embankment is at risk while around 25,000 shrimp enclosures may be washed away, said locals. Read More: 409 shelters prepared in Khulna as depression intensifies into Cyclone Mocha At least 446 cyclone shelters have been prepared in the district to accommodate people while 98% of boro paddy has been harvested in the district. Around 11 km of embankment at different points is in vulnerable condition. Many villages in the district will be inundated if the tidal water rises.

Farmers in haor areas of the country have already harvested 62 percent paddy from fields till April 27, said the Ministry of Agriculture.

Hundreds of farmers in Sunamganj’s haor areas started harvesting paddy after getting an early flood warning from the district administration and local weather office.   Warned by local weather office about untimely heavy rain, the district administration recently announced over loudspeaker that untimely flood may damage the crops in the haor area.   But labour shortage amid the ongoing holidays to contain transmission of coronavirus, has become a major headache for the farmers desperate to save their crops.   Visiting several haors in the district on Sunday, the UNB correspondent saw farmers and their children busy harvesting. In many cases, voluntary organisations and students were helping the farmers.   Sources at Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said they expect a production of 12 lakh tonnes of Boro paddy from 219,300 hectares in the district.   Meanwhile, Abu Syed Chowdhury, meteorologist, Sylhet Weather Office, said about 200mm rain may occur in between April 17 and 21 according to the meteorological calculation. That may be the reason of an unwanted flood in the haor region, he added.   Warned by the meteorologist, the district administration has been encouraging local farmers to harvest paddy as soon as possible to save it from flood.