Jumla / The crops have started drying up in the farms due to a longstanding drought in Jumla district, adding to farmers' woes.

This is the season for the Jumla farmers to transplant millet and paddy seedlings but we have not transplanted the millet seedlings too due to draught, Kishor Rawat, a local resident from Tila Rural Municipality-1 in the district said.

"It has not rained. The farmland is dry. There is no irrigation supply. Nothing has been done in the farm in this season though June is about to end," he added. 

He also shared that the millet and beans yielded abundantly last year due to timely rain but this year the production could drop. 

Agriculture Officer Khemraj Shahi at the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project Implementation Unit in Jumla said the draught has also affected the apple saplings planted during the winter season earlier this year. 

Likewise, the Agriculture Development Office in Jumla stated that production of food grains and apples could decrease this year if it does not rain sufficiently.

Meanwhile, the delayed monsoon has also affected the paddy transplantation in Hima and Tila rural municipalities in the district. In previous years, the farmers would have completed the paddy transplantation by the mid-June in Jumla. 

"This year, paddy transplantation has not started yet as it has not rained sufficiently," Maya Rokaya of Hima Rural Municipality-4 said.