Until a month ago, stones, boulders, and sand piles defaced the agricultural land near the Patne river in Bethanchowk, Kavre. Once lush with vegetables and other crops, these areas served as a supply line for Kathmandu Valley.

Heavy rains and ensuing floods and landslides in late September last year devastated the area, turning it into a riverbank and robbing farmers of their livelihood.

Now, farmers are slowly moving toward land recovery.

The land full of debris is being gradually reclaimed as farmland. Farmers are actively preparing the land, removing piles of stones and soil with earthmovers. Some are using tractors to level the field, while others plant potatoes.

The Patne river, once a source of irrigation, now instils fear among farmers.

“We cannot predict when it will flood again,” said Indra Lal Shrestha of Bethanchowk-3, who fears such disasters will recur in the future.

From September 26 to 28, heavy rainfall triggered floods and landslides across Nepal, causing an estimated economic loss of Rs46.68 billion. Productive sectors, particularly agriculture and livestock, suffered immensely.

An assessment revealed that 65,380 hectares of agricultural land and 26,698 livestock were affected, resulting in an estimated economic loss of Rs5.88 billion. The destruction significantly threatens food security and the livelihoods of farmers who rely on their farms and fields.

Seven irrigation projects were also damaged, leading to a loss of Rs1.35 billion. The destruction of irrigation infrastructure has further exacerbated the agricultural crisis.

Kavrepalanchok was one of the hardest-hit districts, with 3,121 houses fully destroyed and 5,749 partially damaged.

Bethanchowk Rural Municipality has approximately 4,200 farming households. Nearly a quarter of the 3,344 hectares of arable land have been damaged.

Bethanchowk, once self-sufficient in agriculture and livestock, supplied Kathmandu Valley with 5,000 to 6,000 kg of vegetables and 22,000 litres of milk daily before the disaster.

However, the municipality's agriculture and livestock division reports that post-disaster, these figures have dropped to about 2,000 kg of vegetables and 18,000 litres of milk daily.

“There are no clear farmland boundaries anymore,” said Shrestha, who lost his crops planted on 10 ropanis. He estimates the damage to his potatoes, corn, and vegetables to be around Rs400,000.

“Since we have no other skills except farming, we must clear our fields and continue our profession. We have started rebuilding the farmland that became barren,” he said.

Shrestha has been busy clearing his fields for the past few weeks. He hired an excavator for 18 hours at Rs6,000 per hour and a tipper for three days at Rs15,000 per day, spending about Rs150,000 so far.

He has taken loans to cover these expenses, hoping to repay them within a year or two if he has a successful harvest.

Uddhav Prasad Ghimire, another local farmer, is struggling to recover from the disaster.

He previously earned Rs400,000 to Rs500,000 annually growing vegetables such as potatoes, coriander, and radish. With his cultivable land damaged, he has invested Rs100,000 to clear the debris and restart farming.

“We have to make a living; we cannot just sit idly,” said Ghimire, though he worries that vegetables may not grow as well as before.

“The flood deposited a lot of mud and stones in the fields. We are levelling them with a bulldozer but the more we dig, the more stones we find. It is impossible to remove them completely. I am concerned about soil fertility,” he said.

Similarly, Pavitra Adhikari of Bethanchowk-2 has been clearing debris on her farm for a month. Farming has been her lifeline, and she has no other source of income.

“If we remove the debris and plant vegetables now, we can earn in three to four months,” said Adhikari, who has already spent Rs110,000 on recovery efforts. Like others, she worries about soil fertility.

Bhagwan Adhikari, ward chairman of Bethanchowk Rural Municipality, acknowledged that several areas have been severely affected, raising fears about low agricultural productivity.

The local government is preparing a package programme to support farmers.

“We are coordinating with survey and land revenue offices to demarcate key rivers like Patne, Durlung, and Salandu,” he said.

Farmers remain hopeful but cautious about the future as the recovery process continues.