GOPALGANJ, Apr 30: Seasonal nor'wester and hailstorm damaged standing Boro paddy crops and growing jute fields in Moksudpur and Kashiani upazilas in the district on Monday at about 4:30pm.
According to local sources, after being hit by gusty wind and the hailstorm, paddy plants got nosedived and strewn across while heads of growing jute plants damaged.
Local agriculture officials advised farmers for rapidly cutting their ripe fields to avoid higher damages. Despite heads breaking of jute plants, these will stem new heads if rightly reared, they added.
Moderate rain dropped in different areas in the district. But gusty wind and the hailstorm mostly hit these two upazilas. Both ripe and green Boro fields got damaged.
"Our Boro fields got damaged. Ripe plants nosedived lying strewn on fields. If not cut rapidly, paddies in water will sprout," said a woman farmer Fulmala.
Farmer Sushanta Bala said, hailstorm did not drop in Sadar area, but the rain was heavy; ripe paddy fields were submerged, requiring cutting urgently to avoid total damage.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension Abdul Quader Sardar confirmed the crop damage.
It is not possible to estimate the crop damage immediately, he added.
