Achham likely to face acute food shortage

People in Achham of far-western Nepal are likely to face acute food shortage as extended drought compounded by high temperatures has destroyed 50 percent of the crops in the impoverished district, the Kathmandu Post reported Monday.

According to the post, the district has not received any rain for last three weeks and the temperature has shot up to all time high, surpassing the average temperature of below 35 deg, drying up the crops.

Officials at the District Agriculture Development Office told the paper that prolonged drought and high temperature have degraded 50 percent of the district's crops-- out of 56,347 hectares of cultivable land in the district, 42, 413 hectares is used.

Paddy, maize, millet, and soybean are the staple crops of the district, "In the past, only those crops planted on those fields without proper irrigation facility
used to be affected by droughts. This time the district was not lucky. All 75 VDC's are facing the problem," Bal Govinda Pathak, chief of DADO, told the paper. nepalnews.com June 22 09