Nor'wester shatters farmers' dreams in Jashore, ravages paddy fields

As the rains and cool winds brought relief to city dwellers suffering from the heat, for Chandu Molla of a Jashore village, the storms meant something else altogether: devastation.

Although he does not own any farmland himself, this season, he decided to lease one bigha of land to cultivate Boro paddy. 

With favourable weather conditions, the yield was promising. 

He had already begun to dream of more security in the near future. But nature had other plans.

Yesterday afternoon, a nor'wester accompanied by strong winds and hail storms swept over Jashore, destroying 5,011 hectares of Boro paddy fields, which were then submerged in knee-deep water.

Chandu Molla also suffered the consequences. 

This morning, his younger brother and wife tried to dry the soaked paddy in the sun and collect the fallen paddy from the field. 

But little could be salvaged.

"Everything was lost in just half an hour of hail. This year, paddy farming cost me a lot. I had to buy water throughout the year. Now I'm worried about how to repay the costs of fertilizer and irrigation. I don't know how I will run the household or feed the family this year.

"Allah gave a good harvest, then took it away."

Chandu Molla was not the only one. 

In four upazilas of Jashore, Boro farmers suffered severe damage as hailstones battered the fields for about half an hour. 

Paddy fell from the stalks, leaving bare plants. The fields now resemble haystacks. 

Nor'wester winds flattened the standing crops, and harvested paddy was submerged in water. 

The meteorological office reported that the sky darkened around 2pm on Monday, with hail beginning at 2:25pm. 

Rain continued intermittently until 4:20pm, with six millimetres of rainfall and winds blowing at 35 km/h.

The district branch of the "Krishok Khet Mazur Sangram Samiti" called on the government to stand by the affected farmers after a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Azharul Islam. 

Mosharraf Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Jashore, said, "Kalbaishakhi storms and hail are common this time of year, but this time Chaugachha upazila suffered the most. Farmers have been advised to immediately remove the harvested paddy from the fields and drain water from submerged plots."

He noted that Boro paddy was planted on 157,050 hectares of land in Jashore this year. 

As of Monday, about 51% of the paddy had been harvested. 

According to his data, in just half an hour of hailstorm, crops were damaged on 5,011 hectares of Boro paddy, 13 hectares of sesame, three hectares of banana, eight hectares of chili, 17 hectares of mango, and 1,434 hectares of jute fields.

Another farmer Faruk Dafadar who planted Basmati paddy on five bighas of land, said, "I lost over Tk50,000 per bigha. I couldn't sleep last night after seeing the damage. Now I'm worried about how I'll pay for water and fertilisers."

Mizanur Rahman, another farmer, said, "I farmed one and a half bighas of land, but couldn't bring a single grain home. I still owe money to the fertilizer and pesticide shops. I also owe wages to labourers from other districts and have pending education expenses for my children. I'm overwhelmed."