Rice Crops Destroyed by Heavy Rains in Nepal

 

 

Nepal have experienced unprecedented post-Monsoon rains this October, leading to deadly landslides and widespread crop failures. During our visit to the Lumbini area, members of Universal Love spoke with a family of farmers in the Kapilvastu township who gave us a tour of their farm and explained how the recent rains ruined their rice crop (see below). The family’s inner strength was revealed in their optimism despite not knowing how they would survive the coming winter season without sustenance or income. After this experience we felt called to help the farmers of Kapilavastu and different regions of Nepal. All proceeds of this campaign will be put towards rice, lentils, sugar and tea leaves for the families most affected by this disaster.

 

In our meeting with Rajkumar, we learned that the beginning of October marks the end of the rainy monsoon season and the beginning of the dry season. Typical rainfall in October is measured less than five millimeters in this region. Last week it rained continuously for six days, causing the following three types of crop failures:

1. Rice that had been cut to dry for harvest was impregnated with water, causing the rice kernel to sprout in situ, preventing them from being able to be dried and harvested.

2. Rice that was nearly ready for cutting had been crushed by the weight of the rain and spoiled.

3. Even rice that remained standing had taken too much water and would turn brown if harvesting were attempted.

The outcome of these causes has been a complete loss of their rice crop. With tourism in the region nearly non-existent due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the family does not have access to their typical alternative source of income.

 

As all of these families are part of our universal family we would like to express solidarity with their situation and share what we can. Our plan is to provide 25kg of rice, 2kg lentils, 2kg sugar, and 500g of tea leaves to each family at the combined price of 20 USD. Although these limited goods will not address the full scale of the loss being suffered by our brothers and sisters, our hope is that they will be nourished and heartened in this period of hardship by this reminder of our universal connection.

 

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