GORKHA: Farmers in Gorkha’s Chum Valley are currently busy harvesting wheat that takes around 11 months to mature.
Residents of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-7, a remote area bordering Tibet, are engaged in harvesting, threshing, baling and storing the crop.
According to Dorje Lama of Chhekam village, men are mainly involved in harvesting and threshing, while women handle baling and storage. Once the wheat harvest is completed, farmers begin planting mustard and fenugreek within a few days.
Lama said the current period is the harvesting season for wheat, fenugreek and mustard planted in September last year. Wheat harvesting in Chumbhali began in the last week of July. Traditionally, farmers first harvest wheat from the fields of a local lama before beginning the wider harvest.
Local leader Lama Pasang Phunjo said residents believe that bringing the first harvest into the village through a decorated gate brings prosperity. The villages do not harvest their crops simultaneously. Residents of Chhekam, Jong, Ngaqu, Leru, Lamagaun, Burji, Lar, Pangdun, Chhule and Nile take turns harvesting and storing their crops.
The villages are geographically dispersed, and residents may have to walk for up to four hours to reach neighbouring fields and assist with farm work. Wheat, sorghum and mustard are expected to be harvested across all villages in Chumbhali within the next month.
Chhekampar in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-7 lies at an elevation of around 3,300 to 3,500 metres near the border with China. Wheat grown in the area takes approximately 11 months to mature.
“Only wheat, sorghum and potatoes are cultivated here,” said Lama Phunjo. He added that farmers practise crop rotation by alternating wheat and sorghum cultivation in their fields.
As Chumbhali is cultivated only once a year, the wheat harvested after 11 months is sufficient to meet local food requirements throughout the year. Phunjo said wheat and sorghum produced in the area are considered high quality, with lamas living in Kathmandu and abroad also purchasing the produce.
Machinery increasingly used in farming
The use of modern machinery has gradually increased in the traditional farming system of the Himalayan region. Farmers in Chumbhali have been using machines purchased from markets in Tibet to harvest and thresh wheat for around a decade.
Tashi Dorje Lama, ward chairperson of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-7, said most households in Chumbhali now own wheat harvesting and threshing machines.
Wheat and sorghum produced in Chumbhali are mainly used to prepare dhido (pudding). Locals also use wheat to make bread and tsampa, while the grains are used alongside yak and nak products in the production of traditional homemade alcohol.
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