Villages in Madhesh still rely on ox-carts to carry in harvests

In the interior villages of Saptari and other districts of Madhesh Province, farmers still depend on ox-carts to bring harvests home from the fields.

Despite the spread of modern transport and farming technology, bullock carts remain the most reliable means of carrying staple grains such as paddy, maize and wheat. They are also used to transport sugarcane, straw, fertilizer, pigeon pea, chickpea and mustard, as well as to carry grain to mills for husking and grinding.

While tractors have become more common for plowing and threshing straw in towns and easily accessible areas, the need for oxen has not declined in rural areas.

Dashrath Mandal of Mahadeva Rural Municipality-5, Bhagatpur, has kept up the ancestral tradition of using ox-carts to this day. He said that until two decades ago, nearly every household in his neighborhood had two oxen and a cart as a near-essential, used for travel, carrying loads, going to weddings, and even bringing home brides.

Kisundev Yadav of Rajbiraj Municipality-13 said oxen are still used in most Tarai villages for plowing fields, leveling soil and threshing straw.