BAJHANG: After the collection of yarshagumba was banned this year owing to nationwide lockdown enforced to contain coronavirus, the people from Surma Rural Municipality in Bajhang district have begun cultivating land to grow vegetables and cereals.
The locals here used to visit the high lands to comb the meadows for rare herb, yarshagumaba, and make money for livelihood and manage children’s education. Owing to the prohibitory order on yarsha picking, the lands left fallow for years have now been cultivated, according to 55-year-old Tikhya Bohara from Ward No 1 of Surma Rural Municipality.
According to him, it has been nearly two decades since people here walked up the mountainous area to collect the lucrative herb. As the sale of the herb gives huge returns, the slanted lands were left almost unused.
Yarshagumba is the means of income for the locals here. We have now no option but to plow the lands for growing vegetables and cereals as the Rural Municipality imposed a ban on the herb collection,” he added.
All wards in the Rural Municipality are now busy in agriculture. The people began planting potatoes, millet, and beans. Surma Rural Municipality Chairman Nar Bahadur Bohara said, “Fearing the infection of coronavirus as people are crowded while collecting herb, it is banned this year. So, we resorted to agriculture activities.” RSS
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