Our Correspondent :
The main crops of five lakh farmers in Nilphamari, Rangpur and Dinajpur districts, the northern part of the country, are now pepper, onion, pumpkin, maize and boro paddy. Though lockdown is going on all over the country to prevent corona infection, Water Development Board (WDB) is careful enough to their duty so that the farmers are not deprived of irrigation facilities. Farmers, therefore, did not have difficulty in getting irrigation facilities on both sides of the main canal.
According to WDB, 270 water management teams have been formed with the benefited farmers of 12 upazilas to get irrigation facilities this season. They mainly distribute water for the benefit of the farmers. In this process water distribution and irrigation can be done easily.
As always, the water flow in the Teesta was low, but there was no shortage of water this season. Therefore, farmers of 12 upazilas including Nilphamari Sadar, Rangpur Sadar, Badarganj, Gangachara, Taraganj, Jaldhaka, Dimla, Kishoreganj, Dinajpur, Parbathipur, Khansama and Chirirbandar have benefited from Teesta water.
It is learned that the target for irrigation in the current Kharif-1 season was 44,500 hectares of land. But due to the good flow of water in the river Teesta, WDB has been able to irrigate 50,000 hectares of land beyond that target. This is more than the target in 5,500 hectares of land. Due to the abundant water supply, the people of the Teesta Char area are benefiting from the cultivation of chillies, onions, pumpkins, maize and boro.
Azizul Islam, a farmer from Majhapara village in Ramnagar union of Nilphamari Sadar, said the farmers were worried that the coronavirus might affect irrigation as people were under house arrest. But it was seen that the farmers of this region are getting more irrigation facilities in 5,500 hectares of land than the target. Many are expecting bumper yields of paddy.
Hafizul Islam, a farmer from the same area, said, “This time I have cultivated paddy in three bighas of land with canal water.” I expect 22 to 25 maunds of paddy per bigha. And in a few days I will be able to take all the rice home. The cost of cultivating paddy in irrigation water is less and the profit is more.
In this regard, Rafiul Bari, Irrigation Extension Officer of Dalia Water Development Board, said that irrigation activities will not be stopped in the year of Mujib, but water is being supplied twice as much. In the agricultural sector, the government is coming up with all kinds of benefits including subsidies. Therefore, irrigation activities will continue even on public holidays.
He said irrigation activities on farmers’ lands started from 25January, 2021 this year in the current Rabi and Kharif-1 seasons. The Teesta Barrage Command area continues to provide supplementary irrigation as the water flow is good upstream this season. Currently, the water flow in the Teesta has increased to a record level during the dry season.
WDB water gauge reader Nurul Islam said that although 2,000 cusecs of water was available at the beginning of January, now the flow is upto nearly three and a half thousand cusecs. As a result, the surrounding area including Soylab Dinajpur Canal is not in short of water. So it has been easier to provide irrigation this season.
