MR BALGOBINDA Pathak, a government agriculture official in western Achham district, said he was expecting serious food shortages later in the year.

Experts say Nepal is unprepared for the changing weather patterns, and will have to do more to adapt to rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall.

'What we have seen lately is not just a change in the weather, but extreme variability in weather patterns,' said Pitamber Sharma, a professor and expert on urban and rural planning.

'These kind of erratic weather patterns will have a huge impact on farming and cultivation.' -- AFP