For generations, grain markets known locally as galla mandis formed the economic heart of Nepal’s farming communities. These bustling trading centres connected farmers with traders, ensured market access for agricultural produce, and provided a place where prices were determined through open competition.

Today, however, many of these once-thriving marketplaces stand deserted.

Across the Tarai districts of Rautahat, Banke, Bardiya and Kapilvastu, traditional grain depots have steadily disappeared, victims of changing trading patterns, declining agricultural production, expanding road networks, and the rise of direct farm-gate purchases by traders and processing industries.

What was once a vibrant system that offered farmers multiple buyers and greater bargaining power has gradually been replaced by decentralised village-level trading networks dominated by middlemen.

The transformation has fundamentally altered how grain moves from farms to markets and, according to farmers and traders alike, has weakened the position of producers.

In Chandranigahapur of Rautahat, grain trading once defined the local economy. The town served as the principal marketplace for agricultural products from the whole of the district. Farmers arrived carrying rice, wheat, maize, lentils, mustard and other crops harvested from their fields, while traders competed to secure supplies.

Until about 15 years ago, nearly a dozen major grain trading centres operated in the area. The grain depots provided farmers with reliable buyers and relatively transparent pricing mechanisms. During harvest seasons, bargaining between farmers and traders created a lively commercial atmosphere that sustained businesses throughout the year.

Today, that scene has changed completely.

The old market area of Chandranigahapur now appears quiet, with none of the 23 grain depots that once operated there still in business. Many traders have left the town altogether, while others shifted operations to the nearby Garuda. Yet even Garuda, once considered the new centre of grain trading, is experiencing a similar decline.

Kameshwar Sah, a former grain trader who moved his business from Chandranigahapur to Garuda in 2013, said the market has changed dramatically over the past decade.

According to him, grain buying and selling now takes place largely within villages themselves. Farmers increasingly sell their produce directly at the farm, while traders travel to rural areas rather than waiting for grain to arrive at urban markets. As a result, traditional grain depots have become largely irrelevant.

Sah operated a grain depot in Garuda for about three years before shutting it down due to declining supplies. Of the more than 30 grain depots that once existed in the municipality, only a handful remain active today, and even those are struggling to survive.

Local business leaders say the decline reflects broader changes in agriculture and commerce.

Sunil Kumar Sah, former president of the Chandranigahapur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said agricultural production has fallen while grain collection centres have expanded into villages. This combination has dramatically reduced trading activity in traditional market hubs.

He estimates that more than 100 small grain collection points now operate across inner villages of the district, though many of them also face uncertain futures due to declining production.

Municipal officials warn that the disappearance of grain depots represents more than a commercial shift.

Chandrapur Mayor Sanjay Kafle said the closure of grain markets signals deeper problems within Nepal’s agricultural economy. He argues that the government must intervene by purchasing crops at guaranteed support prices and providing concessional financing to revive small and medium-sized grain businesses.

In recent years, large rice mills, food-processing plants and major traders from other districts have increasingly purchased grain directly from farms and households. Equipped with trucks and tractors, they travel to villages, pay farmers in cash and transport crops directly to processing facilities.

For farmers, the arrangement eliminates transportation costs and logistical challenges. Yet it also removes the competitive marketplace that traditional grain depots once provided.

Many farmers now complain that they have fewer opportunities to compare prices and negotiate with multiple buyers.

Rajaur Chaudhary, a farmer from Rangpur, said village-based traders often dictate prices because farmers lack alternatives.

He recalls that when grain markets were active, farmers could choose among competing buyers and sell to whoever offered the best rate. Today, many feel compelled to accept whatever price local traders are willing to pay, fearing that unsold grain may deteriorate or spoil.

Farmers also report growing concerns about unfair weighing practices and delayed payments. Traditional grain depots generally maintained established systems for weighing produce and settling transactions. Direct purchases by itinerant traders, farmers say, do not always provide the same level of accountability.

Behind the disappearance of grain markets lies another challenge: falling agricultural production.

Madhesh Province, long known as Nepal’s grain basket, has witnessed significant changes in land use and farming patterns. Agricultural land has increasingly been fragmented through plotting and urban expansion. Farmers continue to face chronic fertiliser shortages, poor-quality seeds, unreliable irrigation and declining groundwater levels.

These factors have reduced productivity and weakened the supply base that once sustained traditional grain trading centres.

A similar transformation is taking place in Banke district.

According to grain traders in Nepalgunj, the structure of agricultural marketing has shifted from direct farmer-to-trader transactions towards a system dominated by village-level middlemen.

Shiv Shankar Gupta, proprietor of Saraswati Food Traders, said previous generations of traders purchased grain directly from farmers and transported it to urban markets. Today, local collectors purchase produce within villages and sell it onward to larger merchants.

Although transportation facilities have improved significantly, most farmers continue to sell to local intermediaries because their production volumes are too small to justify transportation costs.

Gupta said the involvement of multiple intermediaries reduces the share of revenue that ultimately reaches farmers.

Ravindra Rawal, proprietor of Rahul Foods Pvt Ltd, believes labour shortages and migration have also contributed to changing market dynamics.

With large numbers of working-age men employed abroad, farming responsibilities increasingly fall on women and elderly family members. Traders now visit households with tractors and weighing equipment, making direct purchases that simplify transactions for farming families but further weaken traditional marketplaces.

Government agencies acknowledge the problem.

Ram Sharan Lamichhane, chief of the Food Management and Trading Company office in Nepalgunj, said farmers continue to suffer because government support prices are not effectively reflected in private-sector transactions. Although the company purchases paddy directly from farmers, procedural requirements and limited procurement capacity prevent many producers from benefiting.

The decline of grain trading centres is equally visible in Kapilvastu.

Pujari Gupta, who operates Shyam Traders in Ramtalaha, said farmers previously transported grain to the district headquarters using bullock carts and tractors. Demand was strong, and traders earned sustainable profits.

Today, farmers rarely travel long distances to sell grain. Instead, they sell to nearby retailers and collectors who aggregate produce before passing it through multiple layers of the supply chain.

Businessman Girjesh Jaiswal said this arrangement benefits intermediaries while reducing farmers’ earnings. Every additional layer between producers and consumers captures a share of the profit margin, leaving farmers with a smaller return.

At the same time, traders themselves are struggling.

According to Gupta, profit margins have collapsed over the past three years. Earnings from paddy trading have fallen from roughly Rs200–250 per quintal to about Rs25. Similar declines have affected wheat and rice trading, making it increasingly difficult for wholesalers and grain merchants to remain profitable.

In Bardiya, traders point to another challenge: rising imports and changing cropping patterns.

Bal Krishna Lamichhane, a grain trader from Mainapokhar, said unrestricted imports of paddy and wheat from India have placed downward pressure on prices and harmed both traders and local producers.

He argues that stronger measures are needed to protect domestic production and encourage farmers to remain engaged in grain cultivation.

The situation is particularly evident in Rajapur, which used to be one of western Nepal’s most important rice-producing regions.

Four decades ago, rice grown in Rajapur was exported to India and Bangladesh. Today, production has declined considerably.

Local trader Birendra Gupta said a major factor has been the expansion of sugarcane cultivation following the establishment of a sugar mill in Rajapur three years ago. Nearly 1,000 hectares of land have shifted from rice cultivation to sugarcane, reducing grain output and weakening local grain markets.

At the same time, improved roads and bridges have connected previously isolated villages to regional markets. Traders from Surkhet, Banke and other districts now travel directly to farming communities to purchase grain, bypassing traditional market centres altogether.

For many farmers, the convenience is undeniable. For traders who once relied on established grain markets, however, the change has been devastating.

Shalik Ram Sigdel, another grain trader from Rajapur-10, recalled the difficulties of the past when road connections were absent. Grains such as paddy, wheat, and mustard had to be transported by boat across the Geruwa river before reaching Nepalgunj.

“Trading was good then,” he said. “Now, because of the sugar mill, production has fallen and business declined.”