Prolonged drought has begun to dry up winter crops across Baitadi and other hilly districts of Sudurpaschim, farmers said, as the region has received neither winter rainfall nor snowfall this season.

Crops including wheat, barley, lentils, mustard and peas are wilting due to the absence of rain, even as the month of Magh is already underway. Farmers say the lack of moisture during both sowing and growth periods has left fields parched and lifeless.

“Because of the long drought, winter crops planted on rain-fed land are drying up,” said Chintamani Bhatta, a farmer from Melauli Municipality–6. “The fields look almost barren now as the crops fail.”

Most farmers in Baitadi cultivate sloping, rain-fed land and depend heavily on seasonal rainfall. Even in areas with irrigation access, water levels in streams have dropped sharply due to the drought, causing crops in canal-fed fields to dry up as well, Bhatta added. Farmers fear a significant fall in production this year.

Ramesh Sarki, a farmer from Pancheshwar–1, said crops failed to germinate properly due to lack of rain at the sowing stage. “Even the crops that sprouted would have grown well if it had rained,” he said. “There has been no rainfall so far, and there is no sign of it anytime soon.” According to him, most of the winter crops have already dried up.

Farmers from higher hill areas also reported that crops are drying without growing properly, as even snowfall periods passed without adequate precipitation.

Hari Datta Joshi, chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Baitadi, said agricultural output in the district has been declining every year due to damage to summer maize by wild animals and winter crops drying up because of drought.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, farming is carried out on 25,700 hectares of land in Baitadi, of which only 10,900 hectares are irrigated. Wheat is cultivated on 15,400 hectares, barley on 700 hectares, lentils on 300 hectares, mustard on 34 hectares and peas on five hectares across the district.