Jumla, March 5 -- Until last week, Man Bahadur Budha, a local farmer from ward 9 of Tila Rural Municipality in Jumla district, was quite worried when his winter crops started drying up due to a long drought. He planted wheat and barley in around 20,000 square metres of land this year. A good harvest of winter crops will be enough for his eight-member family for nearly six months.

The recent rains and snowfall in the area have brought happiness to Budha and other farmers thinking that they will have a good harvest of their winter crops. "It rained after a long drought. We are hopeful of a good harvest. The barley and wheat plants had started drying up as it had not rained in the area since mid-September," said Budha.

It rained in Jumla, ...