NESARABAD, Pirojpur — A severe diesel shortage has stalled irrigation across about 3,000 hectares of paddy fields in Pirojpur’s Nesarabad upazila, putting the iri-boro harvest at serious risk, farmers and officials said.
With irrigation pumps idled by the fuel crunch, rice plants are wilting and farmers fear empty grain heads will follow, threatening yields at the start of the season.
A field survey found that most irrigation equipment in the upazila is shut down because diesel is unavailable. Some farmers have abandoned their plots, while others are running pumps on a limited basis in a last attempt to save their crops.
“The paddy has grown well, but without diesel we cannot water it, and everything will be lost,” one farmer said. “There is no diesel in the market. When it is available, it costs much more. If this continues, all our work will be wasted.”
Khalek Bepari, a farmer from Chami village, said the lack of government-assured diesel supply has left growers in deep uncertainty.
Afsar Ali, a farmer from Binna village, said he took out a loan to grow this season’s rice and would be unable to repay it if his crop fails. “If the harvest is ruined for lack of diesel, the burden of the loan will fall on me,” he said.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Mahfuzur Rahman said the shortage was having a serious negative impact and that he had reported the situation to higher authorities. “If fuel supply is not restored quickly, we fear widespread crop losses,” he said.
“Disruption of irrigation at this critical point in the iri-boro season is very worrying,” Rahman said. “Urgent and effective steps are needed to prevent losses for farmers.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report