During a season when paddy fields should be lush green, most of them remain dry and empty in Sarlahi district due to lack of rain. Farmers are watching their lands stay barren, unable to start planting rice.
Without enough water, even the seeds planted in seedbeds have started to dry out. Farmers now fear they may have to face a drought this year.
Shankar Mahato, a farmer from Laghuwaka, shared his frustration. His field is close to an irrigation canal, but water hasn’t reached it. “Farmers at the top block the water, so those of us downstream get nothing,” he said. “Every day, there are arguments among farmers about water. This is creating conflict within our own community. Forget harvesting — we can’t even save the seeds.”Without enough water, even the seeds planted in seedbeds have started to dry out. Farmers now fear they may have to face a drought this year.
Shankar Mahato, a farmer from Laghuwaka, shared his frustration. His field is close to an irrigation canal, but water hasn’t reached it. “Farmers at the top block the water, so those of us downstream get nothing,” he said. “Every day, there are arguments among farmers about water. This is creating conflict within our own community. Forget harvesting — we can’t even save the seeds.”
Normally, rice planting in the region begins in early Asar (mid-June) and continues till the first week of Shrawan (mid-July). But this year, even as Shrawan has begun, rice planting has barely started. The lack of rainfall has disrupted the entire farming cycle.
Birendra Pandit, a farmer from Pipariya in Kabilasi Municipality-1, is deeply worried. “We haven’t been able to start planting due to no irrigation,” he said. “My 1.5 bigha of land is just sitting idle.”
He sowed seeds two months ago, relying on early rains, but the plants have now aged and withered without enough water. “The seeds are already too old. No rain, and the canal is dry. Looks like we’ll be facing a drought this year,” he said.
According to the Agriculture Knowledge Center in Malangawa, around 40,000 hectares of land are usually used for paddy farming in Sarlahi. But only 40% of planting had been completed by Thursday this year. Last year, around 80% of planting was already done by this time.
Center chief Kamaldev Prasad Mahato said irrigation remains the biggest issue. “It’s expected that fields without irrigation stay dry. But even some irrigated lands haven’t seen any planting,” he said. “This long dry spell is affecting our entire farming system and creating stress among farmers.”
As fears of drought grow, farmers in Sarlahi are losing hope. Without rain or proper irrigation, their seeds are dying, their fields are empty, and their worries are growing. If the weather doesn’t change soon, the district could be looking at a serious drop in rice production this year — and for many families, that means food insecurity too.
