Nepal; agriculture and subsistence in the Khumbu, 1986. Farmland on the lower slopes of the Himalayas (altitude 2900 metres). In the late 1980s, food grains contributed 76% of total crop production but production of milk, meat and fruit had not reached a point where nutritionally balanced food was available to most people. Staples (potatoes, barley, wheat) were occasionally augmented by green vegetables in the monsoon season (June-October), yak cheese and milk which was not consumed in large quantities, and fruit which was rare and expensive.