June 21: Farmers in Jumla district are facing significant challenges due to a prolonged drought, which has caused crops to start drying up in the fields. "This is the season for transplanting millet and paddy seedlings, but we have not even transplanted the millet seedlings due to the drought," said Kishor Rawat, a local resident from Tila Rural Municipality-1.

"It has not rained. The farmland is dry. There is no irrigation supply. Nothing has been done on the farm this season, and June is about to end." Rawat added that last year, the timely rains led to an abundant yield of millet and beans. However, this year's drought threatens to significantly reduce production.

The drought has also impacted apple saplings planted during the winter season, according to Agriculture Officer Khemraj Shahi of the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project Implementation Unit in Jumla.

The Agriculture Development Office in Jumla has warned that the production of food grains and apples could decrease this year if the rains do not come soon.

The delayed monsoon has also hindered paddy transplantation in Hima and Tila rural municipalities. In previous years, farmers would have completed paddy transplantation by mid-June, but this year, it has not yet started due to insufficient rainfall, according to Maya Rokaya of Hima Rural Municipality-4. (RSS)