Standing in his paddy field in northeastern Bangladesh, Shafiqul Islam Talukder holds a handful of empty stalks — all chaff, with no rice grains.
Two days of sudden, intensely hot air that swept across the country in April disrupted the rice's growth, destroying the crop his family was supposed to survive the year on, the 45-year-old farmer from Kishoreganj district explained.
"The same thing happened to the adjacent field of mine. My dream crop is finished," he said with tears in his eyes. "I can't think of how to support the family for a whole year. I invested my savings and planted five hectares of high-yielding rice. Now it's all over."