- Wednesday, 7 October 2026
Kanchanpur, Oct 7: For years, Nilam Karki had only one way to decide when to harvest her paddy: look up at the sky and hope the clouds offered a clear answer.
Now, before stepping into her fields, the farmer from Saraswati Tole in Krishnapur municipality-2 in Kanchanpur district, reaches for her mobile phone. A quick check of the weather forecast tells her whether it is safe to cut the crop or better to wait.
The shift from watching the sky to relying on weather forecasts has brought a measure of certainty to Karki’s harvest decisions.
Information on the likelihood of rain, expected rainfall and other weather conditions is available from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Farmers can also obtain information from the Department’s 1155 toll-free number for updates.
”Earlier, we had to look at the clouds and make our own judgment about when to harvest. Now, weather forecasts have made it much easier” Karki gushed. ”We call 1155, get the latest information and decide when to harvest.”
Karki, who grows paddy on five katthas of land, now checks the forecast before making important decisions related to farming.
The early warnings have proved useful beyond harvest time, too. Sirens and mobile phone alerts also warn residents when rivers rise and the risk of flooding increases.
For Nirmala Badu of the same municipality, the forecasts have brought similar relief to farm work. She has cultivated paddy on four katthas of land.
”We check the weather information through 1155 before deciding when to harvest,” Badu mentioned. ”We have been cutting the paddy after taking the necessary precautions based on the forecast.”
According to Badu, such advance information has made it easier for farmers to plan their work and protect their crops.
The Department’s forecast of rainfall in Kanchanpur on Wednesday prompted farmers across the district to remain alert.
For Bisan Pant of Bedkot municipality-7, timely warnings have become an important tool for safeguarding crops and reducing the impact of floods.
”Early warnings have helped us protect our crops and, at the same time, reduce flood-related losses,” Pant said.
He recalled a time when harvested paddy could be ruined after being left in the fields during unexpected rain or flooding.
”Until a few years ago, the paddy we had already harvested would sometimes end up submerged in the fields. We do not have to face that problem as often now,”he said.
Pant, however, noted that the proliferation of weather information on social media has also created uncertainty among farmers.
”Sometimes it is difficult to know whether the weather information circulating on social media is genuine or not,” he said.
Reliable forecasts issued by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, meanwhile, have given farmers a more dependable basis for deciding when to harvest and how to prepare for adverse weather.
According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Kanchanpur, 56,363 hectares of the district’s total 161,624 hectares is cultivable.
Paddy is grown on 48,496 hectares, while wheat is cultivated on 31,210 hectares.
