Youth migration leaves Bhojpur farmers struggling to harvest paddy

Bhojpur, October 28, 2026 — Farmers in Bhojpur are struggling to find workers to harvest and store paddy as young people increasingly leave villages for foreign employment and urban areas.

The shortage of agricultural labour has made it difficult for farmers to bring in their ripe paddy on time, despite months of work cultivating the crop.

Harvesting involves cutting the rice plants, tying them into bundles, carrying them from fields to threshing areas, threshing and winnowing the grain, and transporting it home. Farmers say these physically demanding tasks have become harder to complete as the number of young workers in villages declines.

Bal Bahadur Rai, a farmer from Temkemaiyung Rural Municipality-6, said migration for foreign employment and to cities had reduced the availability of young workers in his village. While labour was previously easier to find locally, farmers now struggle to recruit workers during the paddy harvest.

“Young people engaged in farming are becoming fewer in the village. Once the paddy ripens, strong workers are needed to cut it, tie the bundles, carry them to the threshing area and bring the grain home after threshing. But with fewer young people in the village, these tasks have become difficult,” he said.

Jaya Bahadur Thapa, a farmer from Lungin in Hatuwagadhi Rural Municipality-2, said agricultural work increasingly depended on women, older people and family members because young workers were no longer readily available.