Severe early rains have caused extensive damage to boro rice crops in Bangladesh’s haor region, destroying 49,073 hectares or 11 percent of cultivated land and resulting in losses of about 213,000 tons of rice worth Tk 1,047 crore. Around 236,000 farmers have been affected, raising serious concerns for national food security. The boro season, which supplies 55–60 percent of the country’s total rice, has become increasingly vulnerable to weather disruptions.

The report attributes the crisis to human-driven factors, including government agricultural policies that prioritize high-yield, irrigation-dependent BRRI rice varieties such as BRRI dhan-28 and dhan-29. These varieties have lost disease resistance over time, and farmers faced delays and quality issues with seeds supplied by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation. Mechanization efforts, including the use of ACI’s combined harvesters, failed to mitigate the disaster. Unplanned embankments built by the Water Development Board have worsened waterlogging, while excessive pesticide use has harmed livestock and aquatic life.

The interim government has formed committees to regulate pesticide use in haor districts, but farmers and fishers continue to demand an end to the lease system that favors political and business elites.