Drought caused by intense heat in recent years has caused severe damage to the overall agricultural production in the Chuadanga district.

They have been facing losses for the past several years due to the negative impact of climate change and severe drought along with increasing production costs, alleged farmers.

Leaders of farmers' organisations have demanded timely action to deal with these adverse situations this year. According to the Chuadanga Meteorological Office, there have been 37 consecutive days of heat wave swept over Chuadanga district since the beginning of April this year. During those days, Chuadanga recorded the highest temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius in the history of the district.

March also recorded at least 11 days with temperatures above 36 degrees Celsius. This situation has reappeared for the past few years triggering severe drought across the district, farmers alleged. They said the underground water level in the Chuadanga district is going down rapidly due to heat waves during the summer season.

Most of the time groundwater is not available as an alternative to rainwater which imposes additional costs in cultivation. Especially, during the Boro season, besides the increased cost of paddy and vegetable cultivation, the yield decrease is causing the farmers to suffer.

Abdul Mannan, a farmer of Damurhuda upazila, said that this year he has cultivated Boro paddy on seven bighas of land. Due to intense heat, an additional Tk600 were spent to manage irrigation and medicine. Moreover, the yield also decreased by at least seven maunds on per bigha.

Farmers Enamul Joardar and Babu Biswas described the same situation. Liton Hossain and Nasir Bishas, farmers of Alokdia village of Sadar Upazila, said that their summer vegetable and mango yield has decreased due to the heat of April-May. The same is the case with jute production. After a few days, the jute should be immersed in water but there is no water anywhere in the fields.

Meanwhile, the local agriculture department is stating the opposite of the farmers saying different things. They claim that although irrigation costs increased significantly for sweltering heat but has not affected yields.

According to the Chuadanga Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said that this year in the Chuadanga district, 2,29,680 tonnes of paddy production target has been set from 34,800 hectares of land. Against this, 2,35,752 tonnes of paddy has been produced on 35,720 hectares of land.

On the other hand, the target of 5,93,040 tonnes of corn was set from 49,420 hectares of land. Against which 5,77,355 tonnes of corn was produced on 49,665 hectares of land. Besides, a target of 7,460 tonnes of jute was set on 16,578 hectares of land. Against this, jute was planted on 43,600 hectares of land.

According to the agriculture department, the farmers of the district are also successful in vegetable cultivation to a large extent as vegetable production has also exceeded its target.

DAE claims, this year 76 thousand 877 tonnes of cauliflower were produced on 3,439 hectares of land, 55,315 tonnes of cabbage on 2,405 hectares of land and 26,848 tonnes of gourd on 839 hectares of land. Apart from this, there will be additional yield of mangoes and guavas, the agriculture department said.

Recently, a survey conducted by a private development organisation has revealed a different picture. According to them, the farmers of Chuadanga district have suffered huge losses this year. According to the survey, there could be a loss of at least Tk363 crore in the agriculture sector in Chuadanga district. Apart from this, heat waves have induced a loss of at least Tk200 crore in livelihood in this district.

Amid such a situation, President of Chuadanga Sadar Upazila Farmers’ Association Rabiul Haque said that Chuadanga district is well-known for producing year-round crops. “In the current situation, the summer season cultivation in Chuadanga and surrounding districts has become risky. On the one hand, the production cost of the farmer is increasing due to the drought caused by the heat. On the other hand, yield is decreasing.”

Rabiul Haque suggested that “We have to save the farmers by selecting drought-tolerant varieties and increasing the use of surface water. Otherwise, the agriculture of this region will be under serious threat.”

Bivas Chandra Saha, deputy director of Chuadanga DAE, said “Due to the heat waves irrigation costs in Chuadanga's agriculture have increased, but we are not fearing production deficit. We are always updating the higher authorities to take timely action.