Midhili damages Aman paddy in Gazipur: farmers

Heavy rains due to cyclone Midhili have damaged Aman paddy in Gazipur, said farmers.

Farmers in the Sreepur, Kapasia, and Kaliganj upazilas of Gazipur this morning said that the rains had damaged the majority of their ripe paddy fields.

"Heavy rain has toppled the my Aman paddy to the ground," said Alamin Mia, a farmer in the Telihati area of Sreepur. "This is a significant loss for me."

According to Saiful Islam, a farmer of Amaraid village, he suffered heavy losses as his almost-ripe paddy in three bigha land has been almost destroyed by the rough weather.

Rashid Mia, another farmer, said sudden heavy rainfall has made paddy harvesting more expensive.

According to Badsha Mia, due to the cyclonic storm, it rained all day on Thursday and Friday in all upazilas.

Farmers have incurred a great deal of loss. It has become more challenging for farmers to gather ripe rice in some unions, such as Rayed, Touk, and Barishab of Kapasia Upazila, he said.

Suman Kumar Bashak, agriculture officer for Kapasia upazila, said there is a fear among farmers that more rain will cause significant damage to paddy, winter vegetables, and Sharisa.

He however couldn't say the exact amount of damage due to the cyclone.

According to him, Aman paddy has been cultivated on 11,000 hectares of land this year.