"Monga" is a Bengali term farmers use for the eternal annual cycle of poverty and plenty. When the season is right, there is plenty for all. When things are tough, everyone suffers.
Joynal Abedin, a farmer in Nilphamari district, some 360 km northwest of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, had been living under the shadow of monga for more than 50 years.
Today, the monga cycle is not entirely broken, but the hardships of agrarian communities in northern Bangladesh have been greatly alleviated by high-yielding Chinese rice varieties.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
