Farmers worry as paddy and maize dry up due to draught

By Basudev Sharma

Jajarkot, June 23: Paddy and maize crops have dried up due to prolonged drought. Farmers who rely on rainwater for their crops are seeing their paddy and maize dry up due to lack of water.

Farmers across all seven municipalities of the district are worried as the crops they planted hoping to yield a plentiful harvest, are drying up. Farmers, who have been self-sufficient through agriculture, are now facing problems as their crops, which were supposed to feed them for a year, are drying up due to lack of water.

According to Parshuram Giri of Bheri Municipality-13, they used to have enough food throughout the year from their agriculture, but now, due to the drought causing paddy and maize crops to dry up, it has become difficult to manage meals. The crops planted relying on rainwater have dried up in the fields due to lack of water.

Paddy and maize planted on May 24 did not receive water until the first week of June, making them invisible in the fields. People, who were rendered homeless by the earthquake, dreamed of growing enough food by farming, but now they are facing hunger due to lack of water. 

“The third week of June has passed without rain, and the paddy and maize have dried up. This is not the season for planting maize. Since I have known, such a time has never come before,” Giri said.

Most farmers, who sustain themselves through agriculture, are worried. Bude Luhar of Bheri Municipality-12 said that the drought has destroyed the paddy and maize he planted. There is no food in the house, and the paddy and maize planted in the fields have dried up due to lack of water. 

“There are no employment opportunities. Poor and economically weak people, including Dalits, are increasingly worried about food and clothing,” he added.

Without irrigation facilities, they relied on rainwater for farming to sustain their families. Now, with no rain, they are worried about how to feed their families.

Yagya Adhikari, Chief of the Agriculture Development Branch of Bheri Municipality, said that the farmers in the area were self-reliant in paddy and maize. A few years ago, the Agriculture Development Branch used to provide farmers with seeds of paddy and maize brought from outside. Since last year, they have become self-sufficient in paddy and maize seeds. However, the crops planted in the fields have dried up due to lack of water.

To prevent the fields of people who became homeless due to the earthquake from becoming barren, they distributed paddy and maize seeds and fruit tree saplings. Now, as everything is starting to dry up due to lack of water, even the technicians at the Agriculture Development Branch are worried.

Agricultural technicians, who go to the fields to improve income generation by developing modern technologies and increasing production and productivity for self-sufficient farmers, return to the office disappointed after seeing the dried paddy and maize. Some villages in Shivalaya Rural Municipality have been forced to leave their fields barren due to lack of water.