Kurigram, July 10 -- While monsoon rains inundate many parts of Bangladesh, bringing floods and swollen rivers in the coastal and eastern regions, farmers in Kurigram are fighting with a starkly different crisis, a deepening drought that threatens to derail the Aman rice season.

Despite the Bengali month of Ashar drawing to a close, the skies over this northern district have offered little more than cloud cover and the occasional drizzle. With barely any rain and an unrelenting spell of heatwaves, large swathes of farmland lie cracked and scorched under the blazing sun.

Instead of the lush green fields typical of this season, farmers in Kurigram are faced with parched, barren land. The monsoon rains, crucial for the cultivation of Aman ...