Winter crops in Humla are dying out because of prolonged drought. As Humla has not received enough rainfall for the past several months, there has been a widespread crop failure in the district.

Raj Bahadur Aidi of Rahadeu village said the production of both summer and winter crops were hit by the drought this year.

As Uwa (Himalayan barley), barley, wheat and other crops started wilting, many farmers have started to feed their cattle on the dying crops, said Aidi.

Meanwhile, the villages of Rodikot, Gothi, Barai, Saya and Melchham are reeling under food shortage as they could not harvest the crops this year.

According to the District Agriculture Development Office, production of winter crops in the district could decline by nearly 70 percent this year. Winter crops have died out in 5,020 hectares of the 8,618 hectares farmland.

Dinesh Prasad Raya, the office chief, said production of summer crops has also gone down by 70 percent this year.

Humla require 10,470 metric tonnes of food every year, but the farmers in the district could harvest only 1,459 metric tonnes of crops last year.

Nepal Food Corporation has been supplying around 150 metric tonnes of foodstuffs in Humla annually. A large share of the corporation’s food goes to the families living in the district headquarters.