Farmers growing vegetables on river banks

UDAYPUR, March 5: Locals in southern part of Udaypur district are now engaged in vegetable farming on the river banks.

According to local farmers, they have started utilizing the Triyuga river banks for vegetable farming for two major purposes: Prevention of soil erosion and income generation.Locals from Hadiya, Sundarpur, Tapeshwari, and Jogidah VDCs have been growing vegetables on the river banks.

Every year, villagers living near the rivers suffer from flooding and soil erosion so they started growing vegetables to prevent those problems, claimed to local social worker Durganand Chaudhary.

Chaudhary, who is also the chairperson of a local organization Nava Prabhat Nepal, said, "Vegetable farming on the river banks requires no significant investment but helps in income generation for the locals and at the same time prevents flooding."|

"All that is required is investment of labour and the result is food and income," he said. Caritas Nepal is also facilitating aspiring local farmers to start vegetable farming on the river banks.

Khushilal Chaudhary, a farmer, said that growing vegetables on the river banks requires little manure and irrigation.

A local organization 'Nava Prabhat Nepal' is providing technical support and suggestions to the farmers from Sundarpur, Hadiya and Jogidah villages.

Such farming can be scaled up along the banks of the Triyuga River near the district headquaters and on the banks of Baruwa and Kanga rivers, according to stakeholders. However, the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), Udayapur said they have yet to study those river banks, so they can't say anything now.

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