An amazing field, but difficult to photograph on the southern side of the Karnali, no afternoon photo light here.. I passed this way in 2006 twice and saw the very same plot; it had just been harvested (tito papar) in late October and cattle and crossbreeds were grazing there. The herders were staying under tarps. The plot is owned by people of Khagalgaoun behind the ridges to the left, and the trail here is incredible. So Rabindra bhai, you are absolutely right - it is a field - owned by your mit of Khagalgaon! A delight to discover Jigme here, too!

I cannot speak about the technical aspects of images, but Rabindra has done a great job of bringing these rare moments of Humli life to light. Well, it takes courage to go to such places and certainly it takes skill and commitment to explore those moments and Rabindra has shown both !

Rabindra,
Thanks for this great picture. nature always post chalenge for human to use it sustainably and the people develop knowledge and skill how to utilize the nature unimaginable for those living on lowland.

Rabindra , I doubt it is shifting cultivated land...doesnt seem like that

Dear Yuganath ji,
Thank you for your queries...as i mentioned in the description of the photograph, the green space seen in the photograph is the place for the shifting cultivation...people used to go to that area and they know how to go there...there is way to reach there...these things drove me to take the photograph...i wish to illustrate the difficulty in mountain cultivation and livelihoods...

I had captured the photograph from the other side of the mountain [from Kermi settlement] so i could not manage to measure the slope...but, we could use the ocular methods...

rabindra jee,
It would be better if you can mention the slope of this land. In photo, it seems to be very steep difficult to stand up for people. How crop seeds are retained in such a steep slope ?

It's really beautiful picture but sad to see how hard life these humli pople are spending.

Beautiful picture, but sad to see their difficulties in mountain cultivation.

Description of photo:

The steep green space seen in the picture is used for shifting cultivation [in local language called kurilo kateko]. The local people usually sown Phapar [Fagopyrum esculentum] for three years and left it barren. After then, they switch to another place for the same purpose. This place is physically difficult for accessibility as the Karnali river is flowing at the foothill of the mountain. Kermi people have been using this area for shifting cultivation.

The picture has been taken from Kermi village [Elevation: 3008m, Longitude: N30́° 03́́́́́́́́́́́́́́́́' 22.2́́́́"; Latitude: E81° 42́́́́́́́' 10.0"], Khagalgaun VDC, Humla district – the remotest district of Nepal bordering to Tibet, China.

In addition, agricultural practices have been considered as the prime occupation of the people of Humla [Humlis] to support their daily livelihoods. However, agricultural productions do not meet their food demand through out the year due to the harsh climatic and difficult geographic conditions. Most of the households are able to feed their family members for less than six months in a year. To cope with this situation, the economically active male has to leave the home [seasonal migration] in searching for alternative employment especially during winter seasons – snow-fed period - to make money and to support their family; and at the same time - to save the food grains - which are stored at home - for other family members who stay at home.