Even as 24,618 families cultivate crops in Darchula district, there has been food shortage each year with as many as 22,118 families not having enough to eat. According to the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), food that the farmers have been producing food would only last three to six months.

Almost all people in the district are subsistence farmers, with maize, wheat and paddy as their main crops in the district. The DADO data shows that there is a shortage of 3,459 metric tonnes of food grains in the district annually. While the farmers have been harvesting 25,322 metric tonnes of food grains, the population needs more than 28,780 metric tonnes every year. Assistant technician of DADO Gajadhar Joshi said the majority of the people have been making their ends meet by working as daily wage workers during scarcity. Some of the people also take out loans to purchase grains during shortage.

DADO has put Duhu in Byas, Earkot in Marma, Sitola, Ghusa, Hunainath, Dandakot, Chapari and Katai area in Api Municipality on the list of food insecure areas.

People are attracted towards vegetable and fruits farming these days, with various organisations including NGOs holding awareness programmes aimed at increasing farmers’ income. Kalawati Kunwar of Chhapari said genuine farmers are humiliated after only the well-connected people were provided with substantial government and NGOs subsidies.

Following good monsoon rains this cultivation season, DADO has forecast 10-15 percent increase in maize and paddy productions this year.

Rice shortage in Humla

HUMLA: The Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) has warned that rice stock at its Simikot depot is running low and there may be a possible shortage of rice for distribution during the Tihar festival. Chief at the NFC, Humla Narayan Singh KC said they have only 20-25 quintals of rice in stock. The depot was also unable to distribute sufficient amount of rice in the villages during Dashain. A kilo of parboiled rice costs around Rs 200 in Humla. Shyamjor Aidi of Simkot said they had been compelled to pay more than Rs2 per kg while buying it from the local shops. “The NFC depot said there’s no rice in its godown,” said Aidi. The NFC has allocated an annual quota of 13,000 quintals of rice for Simkot. The NFC, Humla, however, maintains that they have already transported 1,240 quintals of rice and sold in Simkot.