{"id":20071738,"date":"2021-04-30T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?post_type=photo_story&p=71738"},"modified":"2024-04-23T10:04:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T10:04:48","slug":"farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal","status":"publish","type":"photo_story","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers till the sands of the Kamala river in Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bhotbul Rahen is having lunch with his partner Jhumrat Rahen, sitting on the sandbank of the Kamala river. For 30 years he worked as a tailor in Saudi Arabia, but when the pandemic struck he returned home. The sands where he had played as a child beckoned with opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we work the same hours here as I did in Saudi Arabia, I will feel I live like a king here as I can eat food cooked by my family, live with my children and share their happiness and sorrow, whatever comes in life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bhotbul and Jhumrat started to grow vegetables on the sandbank this March, during the dry season. They are working on a 6,000-square-metre patch of government land in Kalyanpur municipality of Siraha district in southeast Nepal. They have three months to plant, grow, harvest and sell their produce: when the monsoon<\/a> arrives, the river will rise and inundate the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bhotbul<\/div>
Bhotbul Rahen and Jhumrat Rahen eat lunch on the sandbank of the Kamala river (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not know where the Kamala river will deposit sand for me for next year\u2019s cultivation, but I am sure I will continue to adapt to its flow,\u201d said Bhotbul. He estimates his profits for three months of work growing watermelons will be around USD 2,000. Nepal\u2019s per capita GDP<\/a> in 2019 was USD 1,071.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While watermelons are the most popular crop on the sandbanks, farmers<\/a> also cultivate bitter melons, bottle gourds, cucumbers, peas and courgettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Farming<\/div>
Farmers use small sticks around cucumber plants to protect them from the wind (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Ready<\/div>
Mangala Sada with ready-to-harvest bottle gourd. Sada is from a Dalit marginalised community in the Terai region of southern Nepal (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"A<\/div>
A woman waters watermelon, the favoured crop of farmers on the sandbank (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Adapting to floods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of families are adapting to sandbank cultivation on both sides of the Kamala. The practice has appeared along a 35-kilometre stretch of the river, from where the East-West Highway cuts across the river in the north, to the border with India in the south. Most of the farmers are from the buffer zones around the river, in Dhanusha district on the west side and Siraha district on the east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, silt farming was more common downstream, in India<\/a> and Bangladesh<\/a>. A decade ago, only a few farmers were involved in this form of cultivation along the Kamala. Now the whole area is being worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aerial<\/div>
An aerial view of sandbank cultivation along the Kamala river in Nepal, with other cultivation inside the embankment (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Madhav Dhakal, a hydrological analyst at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said that riverbed farming, or silt farming, \u201cwas introduced and targeted towards marginalised and flood-affected (due to riverbank erosion) communities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDegraded land was utilised to generate income for poor communities<\/a> and also for families displaced by recurrent flood events,\u201d said Dhakal. \u201cExtreme events like floods and droughts are common challenges but also increasing in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change. In that regard, riverbed farming can be an effective adaptation strategy for flood-affected farmers to generate income from state-owned land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Landless<\/div>
Pashupati Sadha and Ram Sworop Sadha, landless farmers from the Dalit community, are about to prepare the sandbank for vegetable cultivation (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sandip Subedi, horticulture development officer at Nepal\u2019s National Centre for Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development, said sandbanks are fertile land for growing crops. \u201cThe clay mixed with the sand retains moisture that can provide nutrients and water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flooding creates new wetlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Kamala frequently floods, affecting both Nepal and India. To manage this, 14 years ago construction started on embankments on both sides of the river between the East-West Highway and the border with India. The work was completed two years ago. But the embankments meant the river could not spill over its banks and release the sediment it carries. As a result, silt built up on the riverbed and the river level rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bikram Yadav, the coordinator of Save Kamala River Campaign, the rising level of the river led it to overflow its embankment in the Kamala area. In 2007, it flooded its old course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The river was diverted back into the embankments, but the flooding created a huge wetland about 8 kilometres long along the Nepal-India border. It is now home to birds, wild boar and nilgai (blue bull), the largest Asian antelope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As people have started to cultivate the land they have come into conflict with these animals, especially wild boar and nilgai. There is no management protocol, as the cultivators have no formal rights over the government-owned land. The government has so far ignored the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neba and Banarsi Das, from Paterwa village in Dhanusha district, have grown bitter gourd, watermelon and cucumber on the Kalama riverbank for 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Small<\/div>
Neba and Banarsi Das have built a small hut on the land they cultivate, where they spent most of the day. Even at night at least one person stays here to protect the vegetables from wild boar and nilgai (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cucumbers are ready now, I am harvesting them once a week to sell in the local bazaar in my village. We have to guard them 24 hours a day; if we are away, the herd of nilgai will eat our hard work in a few minutes. During the night the wild boars will destroy it,\u201d said Neba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Watering<\/div>
Bilti Sharma from Chikana village in Siraha district cultivates watermelon on 2,000 square metres of sandbank. Her crop needs more water than she can carry, so she pays USD 1.5 an hour to hire a portable generator pump to withdraw water from the river to irrigate the fast-growing fruit (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Scarecrow<\/div>
Bilti Sharma has put up a scarecrow in the middle of her watermelon farm to frighten away wild boar and nilgai (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the government promotes riverbed farming to build resilience in the face of climate change, the issue of conflict with wildlife is yet to receive the serious attention it is due. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Weeding<\/div>
Anar Bati Mukhiya from Kiratpur village, Dhausha district, weeds the land she is cultivating. The night before this photograph was taken her plot was invaded by wild boar (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent years cultivation has sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20071739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1],"tags":[50040706,587],"country":[20000113],"class_list":["post-20071738","photo_story","type-photo_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-migration","tag-rivers","country-nepal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFarming the sandbanks of the Kamala river in Nepal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Farmers till the sands of the Kamala river in Nepal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-23T10:04:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/\",\"name\":\"Farming the sandbanks of the Kamala river in Nepal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-30T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-23T10:04:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Farmers clean cucumbers in the Kamala river before taking them to sell at the local market (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Farmers till the sands of the Kamala river in Nepal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Farming the sandbanks of the Kamala river in Nepal","description":"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Farmers till the sands of the Kamala river in Nepal","og_description":"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_modified_time":"2024-04-23T10:04:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/","name":"Farming the sandbanks of the Kamala river in Nepal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-30T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-23T10:04:48+00:00","description":"In recent years cultivations have sprung up along a 35-kilometre stretch of the Kamala river, bringing both opportunities and problems","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Kamala-river-Nepal-farmers-cucumber-13-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Farmers clean cucumbers in the Kamala river before taking them to sell at the local market (Image: Nabin Baral \/ The Third Pole)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/farmers-till-sands-of-kamala-river-nepal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Farmers till the sands of the Kamala river in Nepal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo_story\/20071738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/photo_story"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20071738"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo_story\/20071738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60014538,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photo_story\/20071738\/revisions\/60014538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20071739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20071738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20071738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20071738"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=20071738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}