Crops on 1,000 hectares of land have been flooded due to surge of water in the Atrai river at Atrai upazila of Naogaon.
The water started rising from April 22, farmers said.
Atrai upazila Agriculture Officer KM Kawsar Hossain said crops on 1,000 hectares of land along the Atrai river were flooded by surge of water.
Landless farmers of Shahagola, Kalikapur, Ahsanganj, Pachupur and Bisha unions in the upazila cultivated paddy, maize, onion, pumpkin and garlic, either on the riverbed or the banks of the Atrai river, this year.
Kawsar said around 96 percent of the onion and garlic have already been harvested, while maize and paddy are ready for harvesting.
Rafiqul Islam of Madandanga village said he cultivated maize on three acres of char land this year. He was preparing to harvest the crop after 15 days as it had matured, but all the plants were washed away as the water in the Atrai river rose suddenly after heavy rain on Sunday.
Damage to the crops will not be much if the water recedes quickly, but the farmers have given up hope as they do not see any sign of that, said Rafiq.
Shamsul Alam of the village said marginal farmers prefer producing crops on the riverbed and char areas of rivers as they can do it at less cost. “We do not need to own land. Besides, riverbeds and chars have fertile land,” he added.
He cultivated paddy, onion and nut on two acres on the riverbed this year. “Water in the Atrai river usually starts rising in May, but it happened much earlier this year,” he said, adding that he has given up of hope of saving his crop.
The continuous rain and sudden surge of river water will affect earning of the poor, Kalikapur union Chairman Nazmul Haque said.