Farmers in five northern districts are getting worried as Aman cultivation is facing a serious setback due to the continuous hot spell that prevailed over Rangpur region last month.

Scanty rainfall and high irrigation cost have also added to their woes, farmers said.

Aman plants in most areas of the five districts are turning yellowish due to the persistent hot spell since in mid-September, they said.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Aman paddy has been cultivated on about 6,20,306 hectares of land in Rangpur region's five distracts -- Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari and Rangpur -- this year, with a production target of 19,17, 672 tonnes of rice.

Farmer Zakir Hossain of Char Khatamari in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila said he has sowed Aman seedlings on six bighas of land this year.

But due to the hot spell that continued for 10 consecutive days, from September 14 to September 24, most of his Aman paddy plants have turned yellowish.

"We could not even continue the work at out paddy fields due to the excessive heat wave," Zakir said.

Alongside insects' attacks, usual growth of the paddy plants has also been badly hampered due to the heat waves last month, said Anwar Hossain, another farmer of the village.

Aman paddy plants on his three bighas of land, out of five bighas, have already turned yellowish and getting completely damaged, added the farmer.

Usually, Aman plants rose to three-feet long during this time of the season, but the most of his paddy plans are still under two-feet in length due to sudden hot spell, farmer Nazrul Islam of Sardob village in Kurigram Sadar upazila said.

Subhas Chandra Sen, another farmer from Sarkartari village in Rangpur's Kaunia upazila, said due to the hot spell farmers had to provide additional irrigation water in their Aman fields, which increased their cultivation cost a bit more than that of the previous years.

Though they have been counting more cultivation cost this year, they might not get the desired yield of the cash crop, he further said.

Kurigram DAE Deputy Director Abdullah Al Mamun said Aman cultivation in different upazils was facing setbacks due to the continuous hot spell for several days last month, but rainfall since last Wednesday may help the farmers to overcome the disaster.