"The land was earlier selected by local administration, FNCCI and individuals to open a dairy farm. However, that could not be done even in two decades. Since we started vegetable farming recently, the land is breathing new life," said an elated Rajendra Rayamajhi, one of the four farmers who have been using ultra modern techniques in the farm. He asserted that transforming a barren land into a thriving vegetable farm is itself a great achievement.Red tomatoes and capsicums have dominated other vegetables in the farm. According to Rajendra, it is important to study market demand and grow the same in the farm.
Beside Rajendra, Prem Duwadi, Ishwori Aryal and Dayaram Bhushal, all of them from Ratnanagar have invested in the farm. They had begun with a net investment of Rs 6 million in total.
Ishwori and Rajendra also run an agro-vet shop in the local Tandi market. Dayaram was limited to farming in his small land earlier while Prem is associated with some political party besides being a farmer. "We all come from a bit different background. But being from the same locality, we somehow got together and ended up venturing for the business," Ishwori informed. "Actually the idea had clicked to us after we saw similar farming on some website. That was very much attractive and we all decided to follow the same." Ishwori and Rajendra were the first to make up their mind for doing something in the agriculture field and later asked Dayaram and Prem to join.
The team has farmed vegetables in 4 bigas of land. What's remarkable in the farm is the 14 katta of separate land that's called 'net house'. According to Ishwori, the net house technology is new in the country. "Growing plants inside plastic house is common here. However, we can hardly see use of nets elsewhere in the country," Ishwori claimed. "The net made of special wires and silver used here is equally modern," he beamed. The team had imported the net from India for Rs 3.5 million. "The net house lasts for at least 10 years," he further informed.
In the 14 katta of land or net house, the farmers have special type of capsicum. Capsicum has been farmed also in extra 25 ropani of land. Huge part of the land has been occupied by tomato, which is in demand all seasons. "This year we have concentrated basically in tomato and capsicum," Ishwori stated.
The net house is a great asset for farming vegetables as it helps in controlling sunlight according to the needs of the plants. As the net helps control heat and lets capsicum grow without damages, farmers get far better return than through traditional farming styles, Dayaram informed.
"If we farm capsicum without covering with such a net, a plant will yield for only six months. But with the net technology, the same plant yields for nine months," he explained. Heat is not the only reason behind healthy and longer life of capsicum. Prevention from pests, storm, rain and hailstones are also remarkable benefits, he cited.
Dayaram further informed that the team has also been growing yellow capsicums, which are mainly demanded by hotels for the purpose of making salads. While green capsicum could be bought for much lesser price, yellow one is sold for Rs 200 per kg, Dayaram said. "Even the irrigation system inside the net is bit different, it's more modern," he added.
Pipelines have been laid in the farm so that water is uniformly supplied to the plant roots. To make it even more effective, fertilizers are already mixed in the water that's supplied to the farm. "We have spent extra Rs 15 lakh for irrigation only," Dayaram said.
The farm is under possession of Ratnanagar municipality which charges the farmers Rs 250,000 annually. "The land has remained unused for two decades. Our team has been able to transform into a thriving farm with integrated efforts. Some experts had warned us against farming on the field, but we are glad that we proved them wrong," Rajendra said adding that today the farm inspires many.
Their products have very good market demand, the entrepreneurs claimed while stating that vegetable imports from India have been hurting them. "Production cost of vegetables in India is too low than ours. They can sell their vegetables in cheap rate here in Nepal. This hurts our business too like it does of other farmers in Nepal," informed Rajendra.
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