Sugarcane production in Jhenidah has suffered a setback due to excessive rain and stagnation of water for a long time. This has dashed the hope of farmers, who had expected to reap maximum benefit out of the cultivation of the cash crop. According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Jhenidah, 155 hectares of land in Sadar upazila, 250 hectares in Shailkupa upazila, 565 hectares in Kaliganj upazila, 265 hectares in Moheshpur and 350 hectares in Kotchandpur upazila were brought under sugarcane cultivation this season. They said over 3,000 farmers are directly involved in sugarcane farming  in the five upazilas.  Farmers said most cultivable land in Jhenidah is low-lying. It gets quickly flooded by rainwater that remains stagnant for a long period. This year, there was incessant rainfall over the past one and a half months, they said adding the farmers had nothing to do about it, but to see the lower part of the jute plants rotting. The farmers said now with loss in sugarcane production they have fallen into difficult situation in repayment of loans taken from various non-government organisations. These farmers also do not see any help coming up from anywhere to recoup the losses. Jhenidah DAE deputy director Shah Md Akramul Haq said Jhenidah is  one of the sugarcane growing districts. ‘The nonstop downpour that started from July 15 and continued for one and a half months caused inundation of jute plantation. Some jute plants have died after damage of their lower parts for remaining under water for a longer period,’ he said. He said over 1,000 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in last two months in Jhenidah, where 905 ml occurred in 2014, 923 ml in 2013, 916 ml in 2012 and 1,211 ml in 2011.