By Our Correspondent
Humla, Jan. 6: The snowfall of Sunday and Monday has brought smiles to the face of the Humla farmers.
The first crop has not sprouted in lack of rain for a long time and the snow has brought opportunity to grow the crops, said the farmers.
Kalu Bhandari, a farmer of Simkot Rural Municipality-2, said that the recent snowfall has brought relief to the first crops of barley, uwa and wheat seeds sown in October last year.
The locals believe that the first crop will grow well with the snowfall of December and January as the snow will wipe out diseases of the seedlings.
When the seeds of barley, uwa and wheat did not grow in lack of snow and rainfall, some land has remained barren worrying the framers as to what they should do next.
Bhandari said the snowfall came as a big relief to the farmers, who have been worried about the absence of snow for a long time. The first crop is grown all over Humla district.
Similarly, the farmers are happy as it is time to dig pits to plant apple and walnut saplings. The farmers were worried that they would not be able to dig the ditch in lieu of rains.
While the Hildum Small Hydropower Project has been unable to produce needed energy in lack of water, which has resulted in extended hours of load-shedding, the snow will help increase water level in the rivers.
“After snowfall, the load-shedding hours will be reduced,” said a local. At present, the people in Humla are facing 11-hour load-shedding daily.