Kalikot, Nov. 27 -- Nama Raj Pyakurel's paddy field did not yield a single grain this year when last year, the same field had produced five sacks of rice. Pyakurel doesn't quite know why this happened but wonders if it's the fault of the seeds he brought from Kailali.

"For us, this is a subject of perennial worry," he said. "But this year hit a new low."

Read: How rice became a staple in the hills and mountains-and why that's unsustainable

Despite a lack of paddy production, Pyakurel harvested a decent amount of other crops-three sacks of maize, four of millet, five sacks of potatoes, a sack each of buckwheat and beans.

"But rice is important," said Pyakurel, whose farm is in Palata, Kalikot. "Even if we produce other crops, we purcha...