Chitwan, a place filled with fertile lands, hasn´t seen any rain for the last seven months, and the mercury level is rising every day. This combination of heat and lack of rain is causing vegetables that have been planted to wither, reducing the final output of vegetables by around 50 percent.
“Due to the lack of rain, water in streams and tubewells has also started drying up; furthermore, the several hours of daily load-shedding is preventing farmers from getting the extra water from deep-bore wells,” said Chuda Mani Adhikari, president of the Hariyali Fresh Vegetable Association. “It´s time we declare Chitwan a dry zone.”
This problem is expected to affect the supply of vegetables in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other major cities located in the vicinity of Chitwan. Before being hit by the dry spell, Chitwan used to dispatch 22 trucks full of vegetables to Kathmandu and Pokhara every day. However, after the drought started, the region has not been able to supply more than 10-12 trucks of vegetables per day. It is believed this reduced output will shrink Chitwan´s annual revenue generated from the sale of vegetables to Rs 400 million, from Rs 700-800 million of the year before.
It´s not just the quantity of vegetables that´s being reduced.The lack of water is also affecting the weight of the agricultural products. Adhikari said tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, eggplants and ladies fingers nowadays do not grow as big as they used to when there was adequate rain.
Farmers said one doko (basket) of vegetables earlier used to weigh 50-60 kilograms. “Now the same amount only weighs around 40 kilograms.”
And it gets worse. The drought has also affected milk production in Dadeldhura. Due to the lack of rain, green pastures are drying up in almost all the places in the district, generating a shortage of fodder for buffaloes. The buffaloes have, thus, started producing less milk.
According to the dairy farmers in the district, a buffalo used to give up to 10 liters of milk per day. Now, this quantity has come down to 1 liter. Janaki Tamoli, a dairy farmer, recently sold her buffalo after it stopped giving even two liters of milk per day. She had recently bought the buffalo for Rs 25,000. Others are also planning to liquidate their herds.
“The lack of milk in the district has already resulted in the closure of five dairy cooperatives here,” said Padam Singh Khati, president of the Dadeldhura Dairy Farmers Cooperative. The only dairy in Amargadi - the district headquarter of Dadeldhura - is also all set to close down its business.
The shortage of milk in this district is also expected to affect other districts like Baitadi and Doti, as Dadeldhura is one of the largest milk supplying districts in the Far-Western region.
(With reports from Chandni Hamal and Bikram Giri.)
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