Hundreds join Boro harvesting work in Netrakona haors

Farmers in haor areas of Netrakona are finally breathing a sigh of relief after workers from outside the district joined Boro rice harvesting in four haor upazilas of the district.

Most farmers in the area were having to forego harvesting for a lack of workers due to the ongoing countrywide shutdown.

This is the norm in the district, especially for haor farmers, who have to harvest all their crops within a very short window and at the same time. Each year, workers by the hundreds come from various districts to work on the fields. But due to the shutdown, the trickle of workers in to the district was significantly delayed.

Just recently, workers managed to come to the haor upazilas from Mymensingh, Tangail, Sirajganj, Kushtia and Pabna, reports our Mymensingh correspondent.

Sajal Chandra Sarker, a farmer of Krishnapur village in Khaliajury, said today he has started harvesting his paddy at Chhayar Haor with the help of nine day labourers, all of whom came from outside the district.

While the workers have arrived in the hundreds, their numbers are fewer compared to previous years.

The farmers are having to pay higher than usual amounts to the labourers -- Tk 600 to Tk 700, said Sajal, who is also a member of Krishnapur Union Parishad.

Farmers are expecting a bumper harvest of rice this season, barring any natural calamities, and are expecting to complete the harvest in 15 days, said Md Habibur Rahman, deputy director of DAE in Netrakona. . 

Md Mostafa Kamal, upazila agriculture officer, said some 600 workers are engaged in Boro harvest on 650 acres of land.

"Six to six and a half metric tonnes of rice are being produced in each hectare," the official said.

Seven haor districts, including Netrakona, supply 20 percent of the country's total Boro production.