Rains hamper harvesting paddy crops in Bajura

BY SHER BAHADUR SARKI / RAJAN RAWAT,Bajura / Humla, Oct. 9: Farmers in Bajura are facing severe difficulties in harvesting their paddy crops as continuous rainfall has made it nearly impossible to bring the crops home despite the fields turning golden.

Local farmer Dhana Budha of Budhiganga Municipality said that although paddy planted on highland fields was harvested by late August and early September, the crops planted in lowland fields are still standing due to persistent rainfall.  “The paddy we planted in June has already ripened, but because of the nonstop rain, we haven’t been able to harvest it,” Budha said, adding that farmers fear the standing crops may rot if they are not harvested soon.

In Bajura, farmers usually harvest the paddy grown on barren fields around August and the paddy cultivated in lowland fields in October. However, this year, the rain has not stopped, making it difficult for them to collect the ripened crops.

Farmers who worked hard during the planting season in June, hoping for a good yield, are now worried that their efforts will go in vain as the rain continues. Paddy fields across several areas, including Himali, Swamikartik Khapar, Jagnath, Budhinanda, Badimalika, Gaumul, Budhiganga, Triveni, and Khaptad Chhededaha, have all turned golden, but farmers remain anxious about how to harvest and protect their crops. Continuous rainfall has caused the grains to droop and begin shedding in the fields, increasing the risk of loss.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Bajura has a total of 230,037 hectares of land, out of which only 22,000 hectares are cultivable. Paddy is grown on 6,915 hectares of land, producing around 13,140 metric tonnes annually, with an average productivity of 1.9 metric tonnes per hectare, said Information Officer Jasiram Sahani.

Meanwhile, farmers in the Himalayan district of Humla are struggling to protect their harvested crops after continuous rainfall hit the region. Although the Meteorological Department announced on Monday afternoon that this year’s monsoon had officially withdrawn from Karnali Province, heavy rain began later that night around 11 pm, damaging both harvested and standing crops.

Janga Bahadur Rokaya, a farmer from Adanchuli Rural Municipality-3, said that crops collected from the fields and laid out on rooftops to dry were soaked due to the overnight rainfall. “We had already brought home our ripe crops, but because of a lack of storage space, we had kept them on the roof to dry. Continuous rain since last night has drenched them, and now they are starting to rot,” he said.

He added that grains such as millet, buckwheat, barley, beans, lentils, and maize, all harvested recently, had been affected. “The maize in particular is so wet that it cannot be saved anymore,” he added. Similarly, Lok Bahadur Singh, a farmer from Bari village in Adanchuli-5, said the untimely rain had devastated the farmers. “We had harvested good crops this year, but now everything has been drenched by the rain. Much of the grain will likely rot,” he said.

In Simkot Rural Municipality-5, farmer Banchu Rawat said that the harvested ‘Kattike’ seasonal crops stored at home had been soaked and were in a state of decay. “Millet ready for harvest has fallen flat in the fields, and potatoes that were ready to be dug up have started to rot in the field. This rain has brought nothing but loss to farmers,” he said. Likewise, Lalita Singh of Kharpunath Rural Municipality-1 said that her ripened barley crop was destroyed by the rain. “The crops had grown well this year, but the rain has spoiled them,” she said.

This unexpected rainfall has not only affected farmers in Adanchuli, Simkot, and Kharpunath but also caused damage in other rural municipalities including Namkha, Sarkegad, Changkheli, and Tajakot, leaving many farmers across Humla district worried about major losses to their harvest.