Drinking water cannot be wasted in wrong farming

Farmers of Bengal have known for hundreds of years that not all soils are suitable for all crops. Still, drinking water is being wasted in Subarnachar of Noakhali in wrong farming, due to which there is a cry for drinking water in the surrounding villages. According to the news published in the media on March 13, due to uncontrolled use of groundwater for paddy cultivation, water no longer rises in the deep tube wells of the houses. There is no water in the ponds and reservoirs either. Many people have to buy water to drink. This has led to a standstill in household chores. Lakhs of people in Subarnachar are living a miserable life due to the lack of pure water.

Rice cultivation requires a lot of water, so there must be canals, lakes, and rivers around the rice fields. People cultivate rice on land next to rivers - this has been a tradition for hundreds of years. Over the past few decades, there has been a lot of talk about the harmful effects of extensive use of groundwater for rice cultivation. If the cropland is outside the locality, far from human habitation, it is one thing; but where thousands of people live and all those people depend on groundwater for drinking water, cultivating rice with groundwater is tantamount to suicide. So much water is not used in green crops cultivation. The green crops grow in fog. So why is rice cultivated in Subarnachar instead of green crops?

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, there are 38,500 hectares of arable land in Subarnachar. Among the croplands, boro paddy was cultivated in only 200 hectares of land in 2000 while green crops were cultivated on the remaining land. Last year, Boro was cultivated on 15,650 hectares of land in Subarnachar and pulses were cultivated on 3,500 hectares of land. This year, Boro paddy was cultivated on 18,000 hectares of land and pulse was cultivated on 2,750 hectares of land. An amount of 500,16,20,280 cusecs of water was used in this paddy cultivation. Only 30 percent of the water was used from the surface. An amount of 4,00,140 cusecs of water is needed for paddy cultivation on per hectare of land.

Residents of Subarnachar told the media that the Department of Agricultural Extension is providing all kinds of assistance, including improved seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides, for paddy cultivation. However, the fact that the entire town is becoming water-deprived due to the destruction of green crops and the expansion of paddy cultivation is not being taken into account. On the contrary, without any planning and approval, local farmers have dug 1,000 to 1,200 feet deep tube wells for boro cultivation, resulting in a water crisis throughout the upazila. We want the government to pay attention to resolve this problem soon. The government must consider that the natural damage is more than the cost of cultivating paddy with groundwater. The government must remember one thing: drinking water cannot be wasted in any way in wrong agriculture.