January 24: Prolonged drought has caused the winter crops to wilt leaving the farmers worried in Myagdi. 

Winter crops such as wheat and barley have started to wilt due to lack of rain for a long time in mountainous district. Myagdi has witnessed drop in the production of summer crops of paddy and millet this year.

Farmers look worried as wilting of the winter crops caused by prolonged drought is sure to cause the production of winter crops to shrink in the district.

The production of wheat, barley, beans, winter potatoes and vegetables will see a sharp decline this year, said senior farmer Chandra Bahadur Karki in Myagdi.

Saying that production of winter crops and vegetables will shrink, many farmers appear worried as major source of their livelihood is agriculture.

Wheat is grown in around 9,000 hectares of the land in the district. However, only 52 per cent of the land has access to irrigation facility in the district.

Some farmers have failed to cultivate wheat for lack of irrigation, said local agriculture technicians.  Winter crops have begun to dry up in the land having no access to the irrigation facility, said Mangala Rural Municipality Agriculture Technician Jagat Baniya.