Herdsmen Ascend to High Pastures with Livestock

Dhorpatan (Baglung). With loads on their shoulders, hundreds of livestock in tow, bodies drenched in sweat, and faces etched with fatigue. Herdsmen carrying small lambs and calves are currently seen in various places along the Mid-Hilly Highway's Nisi Khola and Dhorpatan road. Herds of white sheep and droves of cattle and buffaloes are seen walking, blocking the road. The herdsmen and their livestock, walking at their own pace, are now ascending to the high pastures and Bukipatan. With the onset of monsoon, livestock farmers from western Baglung every year ascend to the pastures and Bukipatan during the rainy season. The herdsmen who descended to the lowlands last October have now started heading towards Bukipatan again with their livestock. Since a single family raises dozens of livestock, it is not possible to provide enough grass in the lowlands alone. Therefore, they practice animal husbandry by moving between the highlands and lowlands during winter and summer. Herdsmen from places like Nisi Khola, Dhorpatan, Taman Khola, and Galchhi ascend to the highlands with their livestock. Most farmers in western Baglung are involved in animal husbandry. Some herdsmen have already ascended to Bukipatan by the second week of May, while many are now carrying food grains and expenses to ascend to the highlands. The herdsmen ascending to Bukipatan now will descend to the village, i.e., the lowlands, only after four months. Herdsmen staying in the highlands during the monsoon carry enough food grains and clothing for themselves to last until October. They reach grazing areas at altitudes ranging from three thousand to 4,800 meters above sea level. As there is ample grass for livestock in Bukipatan, months are spent there. Since there is no telephone or electricity facility in the highlands, they do not have phone contact with their families for a long time. Only if someone falls ill, runs out of money, or any other emergency occurs between June and October do they descend to the lowlands. Herdsmen reach high hilly areas such as Rig, Patihalne, Tilachan, Nisel Dhor, Khani Khola in Nisi Khola and Garpa Chheda, Phaguane, Tikadhara, Syarchung in Dhorpatan. Kir Bahadur Gharti Magar of Nisi Khola Rural Municipality-5 said that they started ascending to the highlands after completing farming in the lowlands. Magar, mentioning that they will only descend to the village to celebrate Dashain, said, 'We cannot keep so much wealth in one place; we have to move them around and graze them. It is hot in the lowlands; it is cool in the highlands at this time. Grass has also sprouted, making it easy for grazing. We stay in one place for a month or a month and a half, and then we have to move to another place.' While staying in the highlands, farmers not only practice animal husbandry. They also make wooden utensils and various items from reeds. Such items produced in the highlands are sold in the market after descending to the lowlands. Sher Bahadur Sirpali, a farmer from Taman Khola Rural Municipality-5, had reached Bukipatan by the third week of May last year. He said that he started his journey to Bukipatan late this year because of the delay in sowing crops. He mentioned that his neighbors had already ascended to the highlands a week ago. Sirpali said, 'I would have reached the highlands by now, but my wife is sick at home, and I had to delay by a week due to crop cultivation. I have to descend to the lowlands again in a month, and at that time, I will have to leave the responsibility of the animals to my friends in the highlands for a few days. I will reach Bukipatan in two days.' Not only farmers from Baglung but also farmers from Rolpa, Rukum, Myagdi, and Dolpa come to Dhorpatan's Bukipatan with their sheep and goats for grazing. Punaram Adai of Dhorpatan Municipality-6 has already reached Bukipatan. Adai reached Bukipatan via Dhorpatan on May 23. Adai, who said he ascended to the highlands on May 20, an auspicious day, stated that since grass has sprouted in the highlands, all the herdsmen in the lowlands will ascend within a week. Adai said, 'It has been three to four decades since we started this highland-lowland migration. I haven't been able to study or go abroad. I haven't been able to do anything other than look after these livestock and sustain myself. We stay in the highlands throughout the monsoon, and only when October arrives do we descend to the lowlands. Now the herdsmen are filling up Bukipatan; this place will be bustling in a few days.'