Using bulls, buffaloes for ploughing disappearing

Bishnu Prasad Pokharel,Damak, July 2: The National Paddy Day was celebrated on Friday in various places of the country, including Jhapa. The use and exhibition of machinery was found to be the main attraction.  Member of the House of Representatives of Constituency no. 4 Jhapa L.P. Sanwa Limbu prepared the land for planting paddy in Panchgachi of Sivasatakshi Municipality by ploughing the field with oxen.  Locals were surprised for a while when they saw the leader who never entered the fields earlier celebrating Asar 15 (Paddy Day).  Buffaloes and oxen, which are traditionally used to plough the fields, have been gradually displaced.  “We grew up plowing fields with the use of bulls and buffaloes,” said Sanwa, a member of the federal parliament.  Although the main occupation of the large population is agriculture, the basic inputs, including fertilisers, seeds are not available in time, he said, adding that technology should also be adopted for the development of the agriculture sector. “Keeping our traditional customs alive, we should also adopt modern technologies for the increase of production and productivity of crops,” he said.  The attraction of farmers towards mechanisation is increasing as there is a shortage of agricultural labourers for ploughing, planting and harvesting agricultural crops, especially paddy.  This has also reduced the adoption of traditional agricultural systems.  In this way, there should be a strong person to plough the field using oxen and buffaloes, said local farmer Bhagwat Niraula.  He also said that now it is expensive to buy bulls and buffaloes.  “If we have to buy a pair of buffaloes and oxen, we need more than Rs. 100,000. And it is more expensive to rear them than that,” he said. But, a tractor can prepare the field for plantation paddy within an hour, he said.  Elder farmers complain that the traditional farming system is disappearing.  Until a few years ago, with the onset of the rainy season, when ploughs, oxen, and people were in the fields, the activity of planting was fun, but now it is no longer seen, said Chabilal Guragain of Kamal Rural Municipality-6.  After the use of modern machinery in the agricultural system and the migration of most of the young men of the working age group abroad, there is a shortage of workers to plough fields using oxen for cultivation.