Teesta char farmers battle water woes to survive

For farmers on Gobardhan char along the Teesta River, water can make or break a harvest. While excessive rain and rising river levels threaten crops on low-lying fields during the monsoon, a lack of rainfall and receding river water leave higher land dry.

Caught between these opposing challenges, farmers struggle to protect their crops and earn enough to support their families.

Rising production costs and falling paddy prices have made an already precarious livelihood even more difficult.

Mohammad Bashir Uddin, 29, a farmer on the char in Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat district, said this year’s Aman paddy crop suffered due to inadequate rainfall and the absence of river water in the fields. “With no access to deep-tubewell irrigation, farmers have few options when the land dries out.”

They transplanted Aman seedlings in Bhadra and are now looking forward to harvesting the crop in Agrahayan, hoping the yield will be enough to cover their expenses.

Bashir Uddin said cultivating one bigha of higher land costs around Tk 8,000 and produces six to seven maunds of paddy. On lower land, the cost is about Tk 6,000 per bigha, with yields of eight to nine maunds.

Paddy that fetched around Tk 900 per maund last year is now selling for about Tk 800, leaving farmers with less money to recover their investment and meet household expenses.

For many families, income from farming is insufficient to sustain them throughout the year. Bashir Uddin said residents often work as agricultural labourers on other people’s land, travel to Lalmonirhat for jobs, drive rickshaws in Dhaka or borrow money to manage household costs.

Seasonal transport work offers another source of income, although opportunities are limited.

Mohammad Rezaul Islam, 20, has been driving a horse-drawn cart for eight years.

During the paddy harvesting season, he earns around Tk 2,000 a day, but work at that rate is available for only about four months a year.

Outside the harvesting season, he earns Tk 700 for a trip transporting goods. After spending Tk 200 on feed for his horse, he takes home Tk 500.

“When the char dries out during the dry season, horse-drawn carts can move more easily. As water levels rise during the monsoon, boats become the preferred means of transporting goods,” Rezaul said.

Unstable earnings also affect household food security, as families struggle to balance daily expenses against uncertain income from farming and seasonal labour.

Aman paddy is not the only crop grown on the char. Farmers also cultivate potatoes, maize, chillies, sweet pumpkins, wheat, garlic, onions and tobacco.

The returns from these crops vary depending on production costs, land conditions, water availability and market prices.

Source: UNB