Aman Fields Dry Out in Bhola for Lack of Rain: Cracks and Pests Leave Farmers Anxious

Aman rice needs adequate water and moisture in the field to grow normally. Yet in Bhola, two straight weeks without the expected rain have created an acute water crisis in the aman fields. Higher plots across the district are drying out for lack of rain.

In some places the rice seedlings are turning reddish and weak; in others, the lack of water has brought harmful pest attacks and various diseases. Thousands of farmers in the coastal district now fear a possible yield disaster and extra costs in these adverse conditions.

Visiting farmland in Char Khalifa and Joynagar in Daulatkhan upazila and in Char Samaiya and Bheduria unions in Sadar upazila, this correspondent found rain-fed aman fields crying out for water. The soil of the higher plots in particular has dried and cracked widely. Newly grown seedlings are losing their freshness and turning pale and weak without water.

Local farmers said there had been little worry about aman cultivation this season after adequate rain in mid-Ashwin. But the whole picture changed when the expected rain failed to arrive for two weeks. Light drizzle fell in a few scattered places on one or two days in between, but it was utterly insufficient to meet the fields' water needs.

Kabir Farazi, a farmer from Joynagar in Daulatkhan, said farmers mainly depend on rainwater at this middle stage of aman. Clouds gather in the sky now, but the hoped-for rain does not come. The land is drying and cracking, which has multiplied their anxiety.

Jalal Ahmed, a farmer from Char Khalifa in the same upazila, said he was trying to keep his aman seedlings alive by pumping water into the plot beside his home. But the seedlings were turning reddish in the drought and fierce sun. If rain did not come soon, he would have to spend extra on irrigation again.

Suruj Mia, a farmer from Char Samaiya union in Bhola Sadar, lamented that the higher plots had already dried out. Pest attacks were also rising, taking advantage of the absence of water. If there was no good rain within a few days, he would be forced to spend extra money on irrigation.

Bangladesh Krishak Oikya Foundation president Sahab Uddin Farazi said necessary moisture in the soil is essential during the early and seedling-growth stages of aman. If a water crisis persists for long, normal seedling growth is disrupted and the risk of disease and pest attack rises sharply, which ultimately raises farmers' production costs a great deal.

The problem, in other words, is not only a shortage of water. Without water the plants weaken; pests and diseases settle easily on weak plants; and stopping them raises spending on pesticide and irrigation again. For farmers it is pressure from both sides at once — yield and cost.

Bhola district Department of Agricultural Extension deputy director Khairul Islam Mallik said that although some aman fields had dried for lack of rain, they did not yet see reason for major alarm. It was hoped the field water crisis would pass if rain came ahead.

He nevertheless asked farmers to monitor the overall situation closely at this moment and to continue cultivation, taking advice from the local agriculture department as needed. In effect, farmers were urged to decide on irrigation, fertiliser and pest management by watching the condition of their fields.

Bhola's farmers are now looking to the sky. Good rain within a few days could revive the aman fields; if the dry spell lengthens, both extra irrigation costs and fears of a smaller harvest will grow. Weather and field reality will decide this season's final account.