Until last week, Man Bahadur Budha, a local farmer from ward 9 of Tila Rural Municipality in Jumla district, was quite worried when his winter crops started drying up due to a long drought. He planted wheat and barley in around 20,000 square metres of land this year. A good harvest of winter crops will be enough for his eight-member family for nearly six months.

The recent rains and snowfall in the area have brought happiness to Budha and other farmers thinking that they will have a good harvest of their winter crops. “It rained after a long drought. We are hopeful of a good harvest. The barley and wheat plants had started drying up as it had not rained in the area since mid-September,” said Budha.

It rained in Jumla, a mountain district in Karnali Province, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday while the uplands witnessed snowfall. It snowed in the area on Monday morning as well. “The rains, though quite late, brought joy to the farmers. It will also help the apple trees,” said Budha.

Bishnu Bahadur Bhandari of ward 5 of Guthichaur Rural Municipality has planted 400 apple saplings. He aims to set up a model apple orchard. The prolonged dry spell had made him restless as he feared huge losses. The belated rains have brought happiness to Bhandari thinking that his apple saplings will grow well.

“Winter rain is a lifeline for us Jumla farmers. There will certainly be a famine if it does not rain well here. This rain and snowfall help us grow winter crops,” said Bhandari who sowed wheat and barley as well.

Only very limited arable land has irrigation in Jumla. The farmers have no alternative to relying on rains for their crops and fruits. According to the District Agriculture Development Office, Jumla has a total of around 24,000 hectares of cultivable land and 21,000 hectares of land do not have irrigation infrastructure.

Not only Budha and Bhandari, all the farmers in Karnali region are elated with the recent rains and snowfall. Winter crops like wheat, barley and other crops need winter rains for a good harvest. Similarly, it is the time of tending to apple and walnut orchards. “Rain is very helpful for the apple and walnut trees as well. Farmers are optimistic about a good harvest due to the rain and snowfall,” said Bhandari.

A large part of Jumla lies above 2,100 metres above sea level. This mountain district has limited arable land with year-round irrigation. According to the District Agriculture Development Office, only around 3000 hectares of land have irrigation.

“A large area of land does not have irrigation in the district. The winter rains and snow hugely support the good production of the winter crops and fruits,” said Balakram Devkota, chief at the District Agriculture Development Office. “The rains also make the environment clear by removing dust, haze and smoke.”

According to the District Agriculture Development Office, around 1,500 kg barley is produced in one hectare of land while wheat production is slightly higher with 2,000 kg per hectare land if it rains well in winter.

Despite the happiness among the farmers the rains and snowfall hugely affected life in the district as temperature dipped in the high altitude settlements. Mainly the elderly and children are affected due to the cold.