The buckwheat harvest season has begun in the Tsum valley of northern Gorkha. According to local resident Pasang Phunjo Lama, farmers in Chhekampar, located at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 meters, are now busy bringing in their crops.

The main crops of Chhekampar in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-7 are wheat, buckwheat, and potatoes. Wheat was harvested about a month ago, and now it is time for buckwheat. “Wheat takes 11 months to ripen, while buckwheat ripens in six,” says Lama, who is also the outgoing ward chairman. “We don’t cultivate the same crop in the same field every year. That’s why we rotate between wheat, potatoes, and buckwheat. If we plant buckwheat one year, we plant wheat for the next three years, and then buckwheat again.”

This year’s buckwheat yield has been excellent, he says. “Even when preparing dhindo, if you mix two parts wheat flour with one part buckwheat flour, it tastes delicious.”

Locals claim that buckwheat grown in the high Himalayan climate is of superior quality and even medicinal. Lamas in major monasteries in Kathmandu are known to buy flour from here, which sells for 120 rupees per gram. “This flour is believed to help with diabetes and jaundice,” Lama adds. “Since there is no motorable road to the village, orders from Kathmandu are sent either by helicopter or mule. We also feed buckwheat flour to yaks and cows, as it is considered medicinal for them too.” 

Once the season begins, farmers from Chhekam, Paro, Jong Ngakyu, Leru, Lamagaun, Burji, Lar, Phurpe, Chhule, and Nile villages take turns harvesting buckwheat through a traditional system of rotation. In recent years, however, some have also started using machines brought from Tibet. “This year, we too harvested with the help of such machines,” Lama says.