Greenhouses are supposed to be hotter than the ambient temperature because the glass or plastic traps heat inside so plants can grow in winter. But one greenhouse here on the southern fringes of Kathmandu is an exception: it is cooler than outside. It feels like an enormous refrigerator, and there is no visible thermostat. The agro-tech company Muttho Nepal has deployed a combined concept of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/garden-walls">vertical layered farming</a> and hydroponics, allowing for plants to grow in a relatively small space with nutrient-enriched water. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/muttha.nepal/">Muttha Agro</a> is the brainchild of Kushal Gurung of Wind Power Nepal and Gandaki Urja, who has also been promoting alternative energy sources in Nepal with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-bullshit">Nepal’s biggest industrial-scale biogas plant</a> in Kaski and a series of wind farms.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_bd58b85ade5e1929ccaed09cac9c098ab4336f21b012480868f241ae08ce9818.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230916020940_bd58b85ade5e1929ccaed09cac9c098ab4336f21b012480868f241ae08ce9818" data-rendition-name="original" width="5149" height="3433" loading="lazy" alt="Vertical hydroponics"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_4642c4b18e3936a530dcfc441b54b926ec69a1d249ba4c53e71419d8b3556458.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230916020940_4642c4b18e3936a530dcfc441b54b926ec69a1d249ba4c53e71419d8b3556458" data-rendition-name="original" width="5398" height="3599" loading="lazy" alt="Vertical hydroponics"></figure>  “This is an alternative to traditional agriculture most suited to cities like Kathmandu with its limited land already crowded with concrete buildings and scarce water,” explains Gurung, showing visitors around his complex. “The once-fertile soil in Kathmandu is also becoming too acidic for crops because of the overuse of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/heavy-pesticide-use-and-low-consumer-awareness-affecting-public-health,1394">fertilisers and pesticides</a>. Muttha stepped into production in March 2023, and its applied demo system has also been installed in the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-is-possible-at-godavari-park">Living Mountain Lab in Godavari</a> for other farmers to adapt to or learn from. After <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">rooftop farming</a> and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mini-forests-to-make-kathmandu-more-liveable">Mikawaki method of forestation</a> where diverse indigenous plants are densely planted in small city plots, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/something-fishy-in-new-nepal-farm">hydroponics</a> can maximise productivity in a limited area while saving water by circulating it again and again.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020928_9594937bc01ae879d754f233d3a48baa46c3849cbba130983f7ab26a4b17063c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230916020928_9594937bc01ae879d754f233d3a48baa46c3849cbba130983f7ab26a4b17063c" data-rendition-name="original" width="3854" height="2569" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in Kathmandu"></figure>  Muttha Nepal goes a step further by integrating the global practice with local knowledge, adds Gurung. “In Nepal, most hydroponics are investing millions and bringing experts from abroad to install their systems. But we installed the whole setup by ourselves, understanding our own needs,” he says. Also unlike most hydroponics that have artificial heating or cooling, Muttha uses the natural temperature balance, bringing down energy cost and making the venture most cost-effective. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming">Back to the future of farming in Nepal</a> “Artificial temperature control is costly whereas sunlight is free," says Erik van Os, a Dutch expert with 40 years of experience in hydroponics. Van Os is helping Muttha Nepal grow sustainably as part of <a href="https://www.carsu.edu.ph/?q=topics/programma-uitzending-managers">Programma Uitzending Managers</a> (PUM), which is committed to the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries and emerging markets. In a natural temperature setup, the topmost layer gets most of the sunlight, which means plants that need more sun are placed above while others go in their shade.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_5ce9cb81d68990d2d7458658a417a836a8b7cc3eadc57c8cb1fc593946ce1a5f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20230916020940_5ce9cb81d68990d2d7458658a417a836a8b7cc3eadc57c8cb1fc593946ce1a5f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5676" height="3784" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in Kathmandu"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_8548ec4c064b9bcd33f3874af495f24525d3ec1612f0aa3bbcde2711f0ce0436.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20230916020940_8548ec4c064b9bcd33f3874af495f24525d3ec1612f0aa3bbcde2711f0ce0436" data-rendition-name="original" width="3749" height="2499" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farm in Kathmandu"></figure>  Farming is seeing mechanical and technical advances globally, but Muttha is making the most of what it has with inputs from advisers. Gurung and the team do not consider the lack of high-tech appliances as setbacks. Using a mid-tech greenhouse, surrounded by a white net, the vertical hydroponics structure provides enough space for ventilation. The net of the surrounding walls can be covered with plastic during heavy rainfall. The topmost layer below the plastic roof is a shade net that decreases the temperature by 2-3°C. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">Hanging gardens of Kathmandu</a>, Santa Gaha Magar Inside the greenhouse, there are five perfectly aligned separate columns with four systems each of six levels of pipes, each having six pipes with 28,000 holes in which leafy greens are grown. Each row has a 500 l tank half-embedded below ground level. The nutrient-filled water is circulated throughout the pipes through these tanks with the help of a water pump. The plants are high-value produce like lettuce, basil, kale, arugula and celery, and poke out of the vertically arranged holes in the pipes. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/waste-to-value-with-biogas-in-nepal">Waste to value with biogas in Nepal</a>, Sushmita Dulal  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020944_d33e3b643183fbe495a15c6f84e3515a830bf111adea934d61411ec309f7a5e0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20230916020944_d33e3b643183fbe495a15c6f84e3515a830bf111adea934d61411ec309f7a5e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="5852" height="3901" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in urban areas"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020944_8817163ed3831895da1e4bc0adb4708ff5a93762dea13b99abd20c89cbecd1b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_18" data-image-id="20230916020944_8817163ed3831895da1e4bc0adb4708ff5a93762dea13b99abd20c89cbecd1b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="4668" height="3112" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in urban areas"></figure>  “We have stuck with salads for two reasons. One, it has been the tested crop of hydroponics worldwide and is a sure success everywhere,” explains Gurung. “Second, it is a perishable high-value crop that cannot be imported.” Muttha is also experimenting with growing strawberries, coriander, and tomatoes but salads are their priority. With an investment of Rs6 in each sapling, it can earn up to Rs30 when it grows. Muttha also runs training workshops to share its knowledge to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-farmers-reap-what-they-sow-and-more">make farmers across Nepal climate-smart</a> to keep up with rising temperature and droughts. Just this monsoon, parts of Nepal’s hills and much of Tarai were not able to plant paddy on time due to reduced rainfall. For now, deploying this combined alternative farming in urban centres is a start to greening <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-lure-of-green">concrete jungles</a>, while increasing productivity of farms. Von Os sums it up: “Integrating hydroponics is the way forward to intensify the produce in places like Kathmandu with limited space but high demand.”

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Greening a concrete jungle

She wakes up before dawn, throws away the blanket and heads quickly down to the cowshed, and promptly starts preparing the feed for her four cows.&nbsp; Already by 5AM the cows have been milked, the shed is cleaned, and the dung removed to the compost pit. Then by 7AM the milk is delivered to a collection centre 3km away. This has been Durga Karki’s morning routine for the past 13 years. In the afternoons, she tends to her leased vegetable patch where tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower and radish are growing.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230402070424_0ba2834ee5238c876d92db3fbc7ecea2d0936502deda8635e724ad93ce8ec86c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230402070424_0ba2834ee5238c876d92db3fbc7ecea2d0936502deda8635e724ad93ce8ec86c" data-rendition-name="original" width="6436" height="4291" loading="lazy" alt="farmers in Nepal"> </figure>  “If I do not work, my family has nothing to eat,” says Karki, 59, who lives in Bharatpur of Chitwan. “I have to feed my children, send them to school and buy them new clothes.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/multimedia/down-on-bishnus-farm">Down on Bishnu's farm</a>, Sahina Shrestha Karki took up farming after her alcoholic husband, who regularly beat her, disappeared for good one day. “I didn’t waste my time worrying over him, and put my efforts into raising my children all on my own,” she says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230402070432_82d4143df61a80a179547869091c0dde04c275b804cab1b9eb5a64c92085e613.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230402070432_82d4143df61a80a179547869091c0dde04c275b804cab1b9eb5a64c92085e613" data-rendition-name="original" width="6670" height="4447" loading="lazy" alt="nepali farmer"> <figcaption>CASHLESS CROP: Durga Karki spends over 12 hours a day tending to her cows and vegetable farm, but doesn't have enough funds to afford a gallbladder operation. She raised all her children on her own after her husband abandoned the family.All photos: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Of her five children, her oldest daughter is already married and another is studying journalism. The two younger daughters are in high school, and her youngest son is in Grade 5. Altogether, their tuition fees total Rs15,000 a month, and another Rs10,00 is spent on books, uniforms and school lunches. Then there is another Rs10,000 a month in household expenses. “There is so much expense but my only cash income is from milk. Vegetable farming has left me in debt,” explains Karki, who makes Rs50,000 a month selling milk. Even then, she spends Rs15,000 on cow feed and care, so there is not much savings. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming">Back to the future of farming</a>, Anil Chitrakar Durga took up vegetable farming hoping it would augment their income but she has been struggling. Most recently, she took a loan of Rs100,000 to plant cauliflowers in the plot, she made only Rs70,000. “I don’t think it is because I cannot farm or I’m down on my luck, vegetable farming just does not have the margins,” says Durga, who cites the low price of her produce in the market.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230402070432_c2833e92decfd40d30c679371d0c27443657b3a5b0b4cdb9105498a9c3dde75c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230402070432_c2833e92decfd40d30c679371d0c27443657b3a5b0b4cdb9105498a9c3dde75c" data-rendition-name="original" width="6436" height="4291" loading="lazy" alt="nepali farmer"> </figure>  Farmers in Chitwan are agitating against the low prices middlemen pay by dumping tomatoes, cabbages and other vegetables along the East-west Highway. Karki’s neighbour Narahari Prasad Kandel agrees: "If you don't sell them in time, they will spoil. When you do sell them, you don’t get a price that is worth the produce.” Kandel repeats the reason for the price drop: cheaper vegetable imports from India where farmers get subsidies for everything from seeds, fertilisers to diesel for irrigation pumps. In Nepal, the opposite is true. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/biodynamic-agripreneurs">Biodynamic agripreneurs</a>, Sanjib Chaudhary Back in the Karki household, the daughters help with the farm. She herself tends to her vegetable patch from 10AM to 7PM every day. And while they are struggling, the farm has also kept them together as a family. As a matriarch, Karki had tried to keep her hopes up that things would change. But lately, she has been plagued by doubts. She wonders if others in different professions also live their life as miserably, if they too cannot pay their debts, afford schooling and healthcare even after working over 12 hours a day.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230402070432_8da6a6d2c89f0103e3a795b6f5d38ffed6ab057a1b98cee0c48b0a540e8f4e43.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230402070432_8da6a6d2c89f0103e3a795b6f5d38ffed6ab057a1b98cee0c48b0a540e8f4e43" data-rendition-name="original" width="6670" height="4447" loading="lazy" alt="nepali farmer"> </figure>  Now, she needs a gallbladder operation which she cannot afford, and her doubts about farming are deeper. She cannot lift heavy objects and physicians have told her to rest, but she cannot afford to do that either. “I’m sick because of all these years on the farm and yet I couldn’t even earn enough to treat my condition,” laments Karki, pouring out her anxiety to a visiting reporter. “I have told my children they shouldn’t become farmers.” Karki did reach out to a local agricultural extension centre which provided her with higher yield vegetable seeds, and new cultivation methods. This helped her yield but, once again, the market price was much lower than the investment. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pigs-fly-and-fish-climb-trees">Pigs fly and fish climb trees</a>, Sahina Shrestha “We farmers just want our products to be sold and at a price that provides us with a living,” says Karki, who was given the run around by local government officials. Farmers in Chitwan have been agitating by staging street protests for fertilisers, irrigation and proper prices. Says agricultural expert Krishna Poudel: “We have been relying on Singha Darbar to act so far, but now there is no choice but for the local government to step in to solve the problems of their farmers once and for all.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230402070432_a1d85eddef7a12fa81fd20fe32f0333f5ab476918103d437dab89c89fbdc0a1c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230402070432_a1d85eddef7a12fa81fd20fe32f0333f5ab476918103d437dab89c89fbdc0a1c" data-rendition-name="original" width="6493" height="4329" loading="lazy" alt="nepali farmer"> </figure>

“My children shouldn't be farmers”

It is that time of the year again when farmers across the country are busy on flooded terraces, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-marks-rice-planting-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">transplanting rice seedlings</a>, sling mud, singing and dancing to folk tunes, and celebrating the occasion.Unlike in the past, however, National Paddy Planting Day (on 29 June this year) is no longer the optimal time to plant the first saplings. Erratic monsoon, irregular rain leading to too much water or too little due to the climate crisis has meant that farmers are now confused about when to plant paddy.Water sources including natural springs have also started drying up right across the Himalayan foothills. Villagers do not have sufficient water even for their households, let alone agriculture.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223279c7e80680e0c0337jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372232a9c7e80680e0c0338jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Last year Nepal was expected to record its highest annual rice harvest given the early start to the monsoon only for most of the standing crop being destroyed in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-monsoon-rain-ruins-nepals-crops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unseasonal post-monsoon cloudbursts</a> in October.“We don’t get rain like we used to which was most suitable for farming, it doesn’t rain on time and when it does it pours,” says Krishna Prasad Adhikari, a farmer in Lumle. “The winds are also stronger and it is hotter to farm during the day.”Kasnath Neupane from Sundarinanda village has a similar experience: “We are now planting paddy about a month later than we used to. If rainfall patterns continue to be this erratic our planting schedule will have to be pushed by 3-4 months.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372232d9c7e80680e0c0339jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223309c7e80680e0c033ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Locals have also seen a declining trend in the number of native rice breeds and fear they might be disappearing. Even in Pokhara, which grows Nepal’s most famous indigenous <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-of-rice-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">varieties of rice</a>, farmers have noticed the change, particularly the loss of the distinctive aroma which makes the rice variety so special.New plant diseases have added to the problem, wiping out entire harvests. This and the additional challenges posed by climate change are making farmers dependent on rain-fed agriculture losing their very livelihood and becoming poorer.“Back in the day my father could feed an entire family of almost 10 members and still had a surplus to sell in the market but I can barely grow enough for four people,” adds Adhikari.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223339c7e80680e0c033bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223369c7e80680e0c033cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The only alternative left for many farmers here in Central Nepal’s mountains is to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Recharging-the-mountains,3465" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrate to India, the Gulf or Malaysia</a> for better economic opportunities. But as young men move out of the country, there is no one left to till the land, adding to the decline of agro-productivity.The good news is that locals in the villages of Kaski district are saving their local varieties of rice. They have set up a community seed bank to preserve seeds of local varieties that would last them several years with assistance from the Local Initiative for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD).“Our local rice like Jethobudo, Gurdi, Darmali, Mansara, Manamri and Ghaiiya are on the verge of extinction but because of this seed bank we have managed to revive some of them including Jethobudo, Paheli and Mansuli,” says Homnath Neupane from Sundaridanda village.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372233a9c7e80680e0c033djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Farmers have also been spreading awareness about planting local seeds over hybrid varieties which in their experience have a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-rice-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher yield</a>, but do not have the same capability to survive against diseases.Farmers here have also developed a mobile app to disseminate information about preserving and promoting local seeds of different crops. There are agriculture centres in each village which communicate with each other. There is also a radio program called Chautari which is a reliable source of information for the farmers.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372233d9c7e80680e0c033ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223409c7e80680e0c033fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">LI-BIRD has been working with farmers from more than 3,000 households in the Sindhupalchok and Kaski district to scale-up climate-resilient agriculture by promoting crop diversity, improving soil health, conserving water all the while maximising the utilisation of local resources. The project is aimed at building the resilience of smallholder, indigenous and women farmers.Recently LI-BIRD jointly with National Agriculture Research Council and Bioversity International registered five varieties of rice for their conservation, including Rato Anadi, Paheley, Ekley, Kaalo Jhinuwa and Bayerni.“Now the source of these seeds will be preserved,” says Pratikshya Thapa of LI-BIRD, which also works to archive vegetables, millet, yams and medicinal herbs.As farmers marked Paddy Day here on Wednesday, there was concern about how the climate crisis is affecting weather and crop patterns. They have adapted by changing their way of farming based on local knowledge and community effort. The need is now for the government to backstop them with technical know-how and financial support.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223439c7e80680e0c0340jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“There is no insurance in agriculture. We only ask the government to either provide us alternatives or insure our investment in growing food,” says Adhikari. “We want to learn about more farming methods and crops that can resist the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/first-drought-then-downpour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> impact of climate change</a>.”Just this week on 28 June, based on extensive research the Agriculture Division of the Pokhara Municipality introduced minimum selling prices for 23 crops, vegetables and fruits to help farmers.By setting a minimum selling price, farmers are protected from fluctuating market trends, they can sell at the price set or higher to the customers or approach the Division where vendors will pay the aforementioned price. If the market price is lower than the minimum selling price, the government will pay the vendor to cover the difference.“Agriculture is a sector where farmers suffer right from the seeds to market, from hailstorms to monkey attacks,” says Manahar Kadariya of the Division. “These measures intend to preserve the locally grown crops as well as enhance the livelihoods of farmers.”Another major challenge is the youth moving away from the land. There is an intergenerational disruption in farming.Adds Krishna Prasad Adhikari: “We need to improvise our education system to also include agriculture in the curriculum. Technological advances in farming and institutional support can help revive agriculture in Nepal.”<h3>High and dry in Jumla</h3>At 2,514m, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/himalayan-red-rice-is-red-hot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jumla district in western Nepal grows rice </a>at some of the highest elevations in the world. It is the home to the famous Marsi rice but increasingly these indigenous crops are affected by the climate crisis.This has added to food insecurity in a traditionally grain deficit area. Farmers are having to plant crops at higher altitudes for better yield, but they are also vulnerable to new diseases and pests. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/red-rice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jumli Marsi</a> in particular has been found to be more susceptible to the blast disease.Under its Evolutionary Plant Breeding project, LI-BIRD is working to mix the strengths of different varieties of seeds to develop climate resilient and high performing varieties for future generations.An evolutionary population can be formed segregating seed varieties. Sometimes, varieties having similar functional traits can be mixed turning the static seeds into dynamically evolving populations. Farmers can then select desirable varieties which have higher genetic diversity.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223479c7e80680e0c0341jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“Due to climate change, some of the varieties that were performing better are now more prone to diseases, insects, and pests,” says team leader Shree Prasad Neupane. “We aim to breed seeds that are more stable in production, less prone to diseases and higher in nutritional values.”Local farmers have also noticed that while non-local improved seeds do result in higher yield in certain parts of the year, this is not consistent. But seeds bred with evolutionary methods have adapted to changing conditions and can also withstand diseases better.But it is not just the quantity that matters in these rugged mountains of western Nepal. Historically neglected by the state, Jumla and surrounding districts are lowest in the human development index in Nepal, with a high rate of malnutrition among marginal and small-hold farmers.Which is why protecting varieties rich in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-superfoods-of-the-andes-and-the-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nutritional values</a> like Jumli Marsi is even more important. New hybrid seeds lack important micronutrients.Evolutionary Plant Breeding is also different because it empowers farmers to select the varieties for breeding based on their experience and local knowledge. Communities themselves are breeding the most resilient varieties against production instability, diseases and lack of nutrition, all the problems exacerbated by the climate crisis.Adds Shree Prasad Neupane: “Farmers decide where to plant the seeds and which seeds to plant, which one is better to retain and multiply. And we leave the rest to nature to choose the most suitable one for the subsequent generations.”Erica WuRead more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/agroecology-nepals-answer-to-climate-change/">Agroecology, Nepal’s answer to climate change</a>, Zachary BartonNobel Rimal helped with this report.

Climate change hits Himalayan rice

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221e39c7e80680e0c02ddjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2851" height="1901"/><figcaption>All photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>The mountains of Palpa in central Nepal are famous for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-heads-to-toes/">dhaka weaves</a>. Besides the colourful handcrafted fabric, Palpa is now also the centre of lemon cultivation in the country, thanks to an enterprising couple.Goma Bhandari with her husband Hum Nath run the Bhandari Lemon Farm in Kutedanda of Tinau Rural Municipality which does not just supply lemons to surrounding market towns, but grows saplings to encourage others to switch to this cash crop.Over the years, the two have cultivated a piece of land that was considered too arid for farming, and made money grow on trees.“If you are disciplined, have a support system and the drive to continue pushing forward, nothing is impossible,” says Goma, who is fondly known in the area as ‘Kagati Didi'.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QgKeNuFA1IFor someone who did not even know the ABCs of farming till the age of 19, Goma has come a long way to carve a niche in Palpa’s booming <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19349#.YqNa845BxpQ">agro-business</a>. She was raised in a family that valued education, even for girls.Busy with school, Goma never had to work in the fields. At her maternal home in Riddhikot, she was the youngest of the three siblings and her father, a schoolteacher, made sure she completed high school.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221e69c7e80680e0c02dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="166" height="168">Over 20 years ago, she married Hum Nath, who was a teacher in a local government school. His salary was not enough to support the new family with two children. Goma wanted to find a salaried job but with ageing in-laws much of the household chores fell on her shoulders.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221e79c7e80680e0c02dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2738" height="1826">She would help her father-in-law in the fields, as he patiently taught her the basics of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming/">farming</a>. In the terraced farm at the edge of a hill near their home, the two would work the soil to grow maize, millet, buckwheat as well as vegetables.When her first son was born a year after marriage, Goma knew she had to do something to augment the family income. By now, she had enough confidence to know that farming was the way forward.“I asked my father-in-law what if we planted two saplings instead of one. He laughed and said that it wasn’t about the number but the care we give to it that yields fruits,” recalls Goma.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221eb9c7e80680e0c02e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2497" height="1665">Taking all she had learned from her father-in-law, she tried her hand in commercial farming, producing vegetables like cauliflowers and tomatoes and fruits like litchi and mangoes.This brought in decent earnings, but it was hard work. There was no irrigation, and the monkeys would raid the crops by day, and rabbits and deer would destroy it at night.“I often thought what the use was of working so hard for months only for all of it to be eaten by wild animals. We had to look for alternatives,” Goma says.There was an old lemon tree at the edge of their field that her father-in-law had planted decades ago. It did not need much water, nor did they need to tend to as carefully as the other crops. Yet, the tree would yield enough lemons to earn up to Rs10,000 every season.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ef9c7e80680e0c02e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2707" height="1805">Goma and Hum Nath studied the lemon market and did some back-of-the-envelope calculations. “We found out there was a huge demand, but Nepal imports millions of rupees worth of lemons every year from India." The couple was sure they could meet at least a part of the demand locally.So, in early 2013 they planted ten saplings along with the other vegetables. The acidity and sourness in the fruit and the thorns in the plant meant that the animals would not destroy it. It also did not require much care or water which made it perfect, explained Hum Nath.Neighbours laughed at them, and the family was not happy with the decision. They all expected the couple to fail.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221f69c7e80680e0c02e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3162" height="2108">But Goma added more lemon saplings, and by the third year, they were selling their first harvest in the market in Dumre and Butwal. Today, her lemons go to Chitwan, Kathmandu, Pokhara and further afield.“No one believed me at first. My in-laws were very worried. As a woman it was difficult navigating the market. But the quality of my produce spoke for itself,” says Goma. “And once things started picking up, our parents were very proud. I am happy they got to see us succeed before they passed away.”And now, people who once mocked the Bhandaris have started planting lemon themselves. Goma has sold over 10,000 lemon saplings. Annual sales of lemons have crossed 9 tonnes, giving Goma’s company a profit of over Rs1.2 million two years ago.They also sold 150 litres of concentrated lemon juice to test the market, and they want to add that and lemon pickle to the range of value-added products on offer.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221fa9c7e80680e0c02e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2075" height="1383">“Farming is not easy but if you work hard there are good returns,” assures Hum Nath. The couple’s oldest son has enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture on a full scholarship in Bhairawa. Their younger one is also majoring in science.When she is not busy on her farm, Goma spends time in community work. She has served as the chair for a local women’s agricultural cooperative, as well as in the management committee of two local schools.“For the society to progress it is important that women come out of their homes and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/women-hold-up-more-than-half-the-sky/">take ownership of the space around them</a>,” says Goma. “This can only happen when they are financially independent and develop leadership skills.”She worries about cheaper saplings and lemon from India, but the couple is confident that with economies of scale they can compete. Goma says much of her success is due to her husband and family.Adds Palpa’s famous Kagati Didi: “If my in-laws and husband were not supportive, I would not be where I am today.”This is the first in the series Striking Roots, where we feature the stories of entrepreneurs from across the country. If you know someone whose story needs to be shared, email us as editors@nepalitimes.com

Sahina Shrestha

Money grows on trees here

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720cca9c7e80680e0b788ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"/><figcaption>38-year-old Ramkali Mahato from Babargunj, Sarlahi district has a keen interest in learning climate sensitive farming techniques. She has leased 1.33-hectare land for commercial vegetable farming. Photo: NISHANT GURUNG/UN WOMEN</figcaption></figure>Ramkali Mahato from Sarlahi in Nepal’s southern plains was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/child-marriages-up-during-nepal-lockdown/">only 12</a> when she got married. “As a daughter-in-law, I quickly learned to cover my face, stay indoors and not speak with the neighbours,” says Mahato.Going to school was no longer an option and she <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/half-of-nepals-girls-may-drop-out-of-school/">dropped out of seventh grade</a>. Within the first year of her marriage, Mahato had given birth to a daughter and in the next few years, she was a mother of three. With her husband away <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/people-to-people-at-india-nepal-border/">in India working</a> as a rickshaw driver, Mahato had the responsibility of caring for her three children and in-laws.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720ccd9c7e80680e0b788bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="126" height="150">Says Mahato: “With limited income, it was a struggle to ensure all of us had adequate food to eat. That is when I decided to take matters into my own hands, no matter what the community thought about it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720cce9c7e80680e0b788cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption>Ramkali Mahato uses climate sensitive, modern farming techniques for better produce. She has built a climate sensitive plastic tunnel to grow off-seasonal vegetables and protect her produce from unexpected rainfalls and harsh cold.  Photo: NISHANT GURUNG/UN WOMEN</figcaption></figure>Mahato first bought a buffalo and started selling the milk to earn extra money, which she used to invest in more cattle. She also planted crops in a small piece of family land. “While farming added food for my family, most of my produce would go bad, I didn’t understand why. There was never a surplus to sell,” she recalls.In 2016, after learning about agriculture training being provided in her village, she joined with hopes of also receiving seeds and equipment for her farm. The training Accelerating Progress towards Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE) was a <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en">UN Women</a>-led joint program in collaboration with <a href="https://www.fao.org/home/en">FAO</a>, <a href="https://www.wfp.org/support-us/stories/donate?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=11709431918&amp;utm_content=115463949244&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo8bBttW19gIV3sEWBR0L_Ql9EAAYASAAEgI-xfD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">WFP</a> and <a href="https://www.ifad.org/en/">IFAD</a>.The training program focused on strengthening the leadership capacity of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-women-doubly-burdened-by-climate-change/">rural women farmers</a> at home and their respective communities and included climate-sensitive techniques like plastic tunnel farming that allowed people to grow off-seasonal vegetables.“The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/">weather is so unpredictable</a> in Terai these days. We have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-monsoon-rain-ruins-nepals-crops/">unexpected floods</a> during summer and harsh winters when we do not see the sun for a month during the cold waves,” says Mahato, who now grows not only grains but also cauliflowers, spinach, chilies, gourds, okras, long beans and more in 14 tunnels she built in her farm.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720cd19c7e80680e0b788djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption>Ramkali Mahato installs bamboo as a form of support for her climber crops. Photo: NISHANT GURUNG/UN WOMEN</figcaption></figure>The produce from her farm is more than enough for her family and there is even surplus to sell in the market. Says Mahato: "My husband and I take the vegetables in an auto and sell them in the market in Lalbandi, the nearest city from our village.”In the training, Mahato also learned to make organic fertilisers at home using vegetable and other kitchen waste. “This is the best way to save the quality of the soil. I only buy it from the market when I am running short of it,” she adds.At present 38-year-old Mahato has leased 1.33-hectare land for commercial vegetable farming. But she had observed a sharp increase in her income from a mere Rs30,000 a year to Ts750,000 after she started implementing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/help-for-resilient-farming/">climate-resilient farming</a>.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/women-and-water/">Women and water</a>, Editorial Rachana Bhattarai, Programme Analyst at UN Women says, “Women and girls are taking climate and environment action at all levels, but their voice, agency, and participation are under-supported, under-resourced, under-valued and under-recognized. Within women, it is also important to ensure how this is impacting women based on their caste, ethnicity, class, and geographical location.”Outmigration of working-age men from Nepal’s villages has added to the burden of women but it has also allowed them to step into more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/uncategorized/home-alone-in-dasain/">meaningful leadership roles</a> in their families and communities. They also play an important but often unrecognised role in agriculture that sustains nearly 80% of Nepalis.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720cd49c7e80680e0b788ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption>Ramkali Mahato with her family which she supports with income from her commercial farming. Photo: NISHANT GURUNG/UN WOMEN </figcaption></figure>The empowerment of women in agriculture is key to overall economic productivity, given the majority, 84.3% percent of women with any form of employment work in the agriculture sector.Since her commercial farming took off, Mahato has noticed a change in how her neighbours perceive her. “The same people who once spoke badly of me because I went out to collect fodder now ask my help to make plastic tunnels for their farms,” she says. “Many more people are also willing to trust me with financial loans now.”Earlier, Mahato was not confident about taking loans and many refused to lend her money. But she now comfortably manages her accounts and transactions. Her income, in fact, pays for her children’s tuition, the medical expense of her husband and rent of the leased farm.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101136/63720cd89c7e80680e0b788fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption>Ramkali Mahato wants her daughter to pursue higher studies and become economically independent. Photo: NISHANT GURUNG/UN WOMEN</figcaption></figure>Mahato is also the chair of Laxmi Rural Women Farmer’s Group and Hariyali Women Multipurpose Cooperative. Through these networks, she supports other women in her community to generate income through agriculture. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the network also served as a close-knit support group for women who are living in vulnerable situations or are victims of gender-based violence.During the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, most people in the village let their sons study online but daughters had to help their mothers with household chores, but I didn’t differentiate between my children, says Mahato whose daughter just completed high school and the duo is keen about her college prospects.Adds Mahato: “I do not want my daughter or the daughters in my community to face the same challenges as I did.”The first phase of the project was conducted in Rautahat and Sarlahi in Madhes from 2016-2021 and the second phase will be implemented from May 2022 in Siraha and Saptari districts under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and with support from Multi Partner Trust Fund. Nepal is implementing the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the empowerment of rural women is vital to the success of the SDGs.*While outlawed, child marriages and teenage birth continue to be culturally prevalent in areas of Nepal. <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nepal/reports/ending-child-marriage-nepal%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank">Studies</a> have shown that in disasters or crises, as families lose homes and livelihoods, parents are more likely to marry off their children in a bid to protect them and secure their futures.Subeksha Poudel is the communication officer with the UN Women Nepal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-women-doubly-burdened-by-climate-change/">Nepali women doubly burdened by climate change</a>, Sewa Bhattarai

Climate smart Ramkali Mahato

<figure><img width="800" height="423" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203099c7e80680e0b27e7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nep Bahadur Chaudhary and his wife Rupa Chaudhary at their banana plantation.</figcaption></figure>Democracy is expensive and <a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/is-democracy-too-expensive-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">funding political activities</a> can be costly, which is why some local leaders in western Nepal have taken to fruit farming to fund their campaigns for next year’s elections.They have found that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">farming</a> is a good way to make a living, plough funds into poll campaigning without sullying their reputation with unethical donations, and approach locals.“To do politics, we need money,” admits Nep Bahadur Chaudhary, a former <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/ex-guerrillas-regret-the-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maoist guerrilla</a>. “That’s why I farm. It does require a lot of hard work, but it also gives us the chance to make money. Direct contact with other farmers and traders also helps our campaigning.”Chaudhary, from Kailali’s Tikapur, is a local leader with his own banana plantation. During the armed conflict, Chaudhary was the Maoist’s seventh division secretary. He and his wife, Rupa Chaudhary, former Constituent Assembly member in 2007, have been managing their banana farming business since 2011.Chaudhary’s 3-hectare plantation is on loanfrom a local secondary school, and makes a profit of about Rs10 million a year. <figure><img width="594" height="545" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/6372030b9c7e80680e0b27e8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Laxmi Acharya, from Kailali’s Godavari municipality, is also from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/tis-the-season-of-conventions-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maoist Centre</a> party and has been tending his own banana farmfor the past eight years. His farm, spread across 5.5 hectares, brings him yearly profit of Rs200,000.“It is necessary for us politicians to stay connected,” he points out. Since farming involves human resource and generates employment, Acharya believes his occupation actually helps further his political career.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/building-an-information-bridge-for-nepals-farmers/">Building an information bridge for Nepal’s farmers</a>, Naresh Newar Farming is also a cost-effective vocation, as Ganesh Dhakal has discovered. He cultivates dragon fruit in his Bhumiputra Livestock and Agriculture farm in Kailali’s Lamkichuha. Dhakal was also a former Maoist and enlisted into the militia at age 17 during the insurgency. He was a secretary with the Netra Bikram Chand-led faction of the Maoists. Dhakal became interested in dragon fruit because of its high yield in a short span of time. And since he is one of few farmers in this region cultivating the fruit, he has an easy market. Demand for home grown fruits is picking up among consumers. Indian banana <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-less-and-less-able-to-feed-itself/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">imports</a> are being replaced by those cultivated in these politician-run farms. Kailali ranks first, with Kanchanpur second, for banana cultivation in Nepal. Farmers from Kailali and Kanchanpur have also proven that they are hard-working and have entreprenurship. Three banana farmers from Tikapur, Udhami Kalu Himal, Binod Shah, and Ram Bahadur Kunwar from Nepal Agriculture Farm in Kailalihave been awarded the President’s Excellence Award. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-parliamentarians-apple-grove/">A parliamentarian's apple grove</a>, Mukesh Pokharel

Nepal’s politicians take up farming

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d3c9c7e80680e0af3a0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1417" height="945"/><figcaption>All photos: SANCHAI INC</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=bead8272edd0f2143&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/chiampagne/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj_4OOU8tb0AhVuTGwGHZxDBlYQFnoECAQQAg&amp;usg=AOvVaw1bIcX2Mvv2AOTwYJ1ufhaX" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highest quality tea</a> is synonymous with Darjeeling. Outstanding beer is produced in Pilsen. Camembert cheese gets its name from a town in France. In future, could Khotang become the name for the world’s purest peanut butter?An up-and-coming business venture led by a Japanese social entrepreneur is set to put this outlying Himalayan district in eastern Nepal on the world map for its premium natural peanut butter.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d3f9c7e80680e0af3a1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500">Kotobuki Naka’s plan to turn Durchim of Halesi Municipality in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-local-governments-lead-from-the-front/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Khotang district</a> into the world’s peanut butter capital is picking up again after being stalled by the Covid crisis. She is now back to get the farmers she trained and the factory she established up and running.Naka (pictured, left) used to work with a Japanese IoT (Internet of Things) company that used to support  charity work among <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nearly-half-of-nepali-children-still-malnourished/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">children</a> in Khotang. On her first visit, she undertook the tumultuous 15-hour drive from Kathmandu to Khotang along rough mountains roads to meet farmers.She found that peanut was the main cash crop in southern Khotang, but crop failure due to drier than usual weather was forcing men to migrate to India and the Gulf for work.“I was trying to find a more sustainable way to improve the lives of children, and concluded that the best way to go about that was to make their parents more economically capable, rather than just giving handouts,” says Naka.https://youtu.be/H-QVCYBQy90Three years ago, she met a farmer who told her he did not want to migrate but continue farming if there was a way to make a living from it. This had a profound effect on Naka, who went on to establish <a href="https://www.sanchai-inc.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sanchai Inc</a> impart training in organic farming to make peanut butter, so they did not have to migrate.During their extensive research, Naka with her colleague Sabita Maharjan of Bipana Inc learned that Khotang locals grew two types of peanuts: the smaller, tastier local variety for their own consumption, and a larger hybrid peanut to be sold to middlemen at low rates. What was left, they fed to livestock.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d429c7e80680e0af3a2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Till that point, I knew nothing about making peanut butter, but I had to convince my boss in Japan,” Naka recalls, “I told him it was for people in Nepal, not to earn a profit.”She then visited peanut experts in Japan and got a famous Japanese recipe before her next visit to Khotang with basic equipment to test-make a peanut butter sample. Everyone back in Japan agreed that the smaller local peanut variety gave the best <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15952#.YbIN9C2B2fQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">peanut butter</a> they had ever tasted.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d459c7e80680e0af3a3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="655" height="431"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d469c7e80680e0af3a4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1417" height="949"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“We were amazed how good it was. I was convinced we could train local people to make it and set up a company,” adds Naka, who had to first get used to a place without electricity. Luckily, the village got power just before the factory opened.“As a Japanese, it took me time to get used to the lack of punctuality here,” laughs Naka.The farmers who showed up were all <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/women-and-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women</a> because most of the men had migrated. Unintentionally, the peanut enterprise also became a tool for women empowerment.Naka and her team trained 60 households to produce organically-grown peanuts which the company bought for a higher price than middlemen, benefiting 300 farmers.“Our whole idea was to raise living standards sustainably, by providing skills and not just handing out money,” explains Naka.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d499c7e80680e0af3a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1417" height="945"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d4c9c7e80680e0af3a6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="266" height="797">Next, they trained their staff of 10 women to make peanut butter in a few crucial steps:<ul><li>Select undamaged peanuts manually</li> <li>Remove outer shell of selected peanuts</li> <li>Carefully roast the peanuts</li> <li>Clean and break each peanut into two halves</li> <li>Peanuts go through another round of selection</li> <li>Peanuts go for mixing</li></ul>Quality control is paramount for the export market, and this is meticulously maintained with superior raw material and processing that retains the unique taste and texture of the butter from Khotang peanuts as well as a protein level of 1.3% -- higher than any other similar product.Naka, 43, grew up in Fukuoka, learning the basics of business from her father who owned a chain of beauty salons. She moved to Tokyo as a researcher for the IoT company. After three years, Naka opened Sanchai Inc in December 2017, and export of Khotang peanut butter started a year later.Distribution within Nepal at Le Sherpa Farmers’ Market, Local Project Nepal, Himgiri Organic Farm have resumed after the pandemic. Japan now accounts for 90% of sales, and there is also budding interest from companies for the Singapore, Europe and the United States markets.“When I tell people the story behind the product, they get excited and are even more interested in buying it. I try to inspire in them the feeling of giving and helping people in rural Nepal,” says Naka.“Ours was one small effort, but it gave women in Khotang a platform to perform, their families' living standard rose, and they have now become leaders.”

Sonia Awale

Made in Nepal peanut butter in Japan

<figure><img width="900" height="673" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08409c7e80680e0a6008jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: SMITA MAGAR</figcaption></figure>“How the dry earth must have sizzled today, kanchhi!” my sister-in-law Birmati said in delight after heavy rain finally fell in Jhumlawang village of Bhume Rural Municipality.For eight-months it had not rained here in East Rukum, destroying the wheat and barley crops and rendering surrounding forests tinder-dry. So, when the rains finally came in April, it was a welcome relief.The fires scorched the bone dry mountains this spring, shrouding the country in thick smoke for weeks. The pollution peaked in Kathmandu in March, making breathing difficult. While that was happening, up here in Jhumlawang residents were dealing with insect infestation on fodder grass, and they worried about how to manage fresh green grass for the livestock. There was looming worry about a possible famine.The residents of Jhumlawang were in their fields the day after the first rain fell, but the winter wheat crop had not fared well during the drought. The desiccated stalks was turned into cattle fodder. <img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08439c7e80680e0a6009jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08469c7e80680e0a600ajpeg.jpg" alt="">“We only got a handful of grain when there should have been many muri of wheat,” says Jokhi Kumari Thapa. “So we fed whatever was there to the cows and goats.”As the rain began to fall in earnest, villagers ploughed their fields and began planting maize.   Maize and wheat are major food crops here in the remote mountains of East Rukum. The terraces on the steep slopes are also suitable for potato, barley, mustard, hemp seed, beans, millet and various other spices that villagers farm to feed their own families. However, the yield is not enough them for the entire year. Subsistence rain-fed farming makes food availability precarious not just here, but across central and western Nepal. And this year’s winter drought meant that even fields that had good yields in previous years did not produce any harvest this year. The rain, when it finally came was relentless, and this meant that during the threshing season the farmers could not get as much grain as they would have liked. Indeed, the wheat harvesting process needs to go through multiple carefully planned stages that require considerable effort. The wheat is first harvested and its stalks dried. Then it is threshed, and the husk separated from the grain. The grain is then dried in the sun before being moved to storage. If the crops do not get enough sun during the process, there is a possibility of the grains rotting on the stalk itself, rendering the crop useless.  <img width="900" height="673" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08489c7e80680e0a600bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="900" height="646" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d084b9c7e80680e0a600cjpeg.jpg" alt="">My nieces Ritu, Swastika, and Barsha had gone to the fields to harvest the still-young crops to prevent this very problem from occurring.“Grandmother has told us to cut even the small stalks of wheat, otherwise the grain will weep,” Barsha explained to her elder sisters as she got busy in the fields. A popular folklore has been passed down from generations of farmers in Jhumlawang. In it, the smaller wheat stalks that have been left unharvested in the field gather around the harvested stalks at night, and weep.“The big grains fill bigger baskets, and we fill the smaller ones,” they say. “If not a thun (a basket similar to a doko that can retain smaller-sized grains), we could fill a phungo (a smaller basket) Then we could also feed our owners.” <img width="900" height="673" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d084f9c7e80680e0a600djpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08539c7e80680e0a600ejpeg.jpg" alt="">My mother’s sister Hastakala Buda had gone to nearby Dangliga to harvest wheat. When my mother Bhagwati Buda asked her if the wheat there was more plentiful, my aunt laughed and said, “Poor things, those crops got neither mulch nor water, we barely got a handful of grain out of them.”Sirmaya BK had come to help us with the wheat harvest. Out here in these parts, anyone who helps with the wheat-cutting is compensated with a sack of wheat at the end of each day. But since there simply was not enough harvest this year, no one had any work for Sirmaya. As she was preparing to return home, Sirmaya asked, “You don’t have enough wheat here to tide you over either. What are you going to eat?”Meanwhile, my sister Krishna Buda, who had been stuck in her maternal home due to the coronavirus pandemic, was uprooting the wheat in the field, yanking out the dry stalks. Not a single grain had grown in them. Gesturing sadly towards the dry field she said, “Look didi, what a shameful sight. The livestock will feed on this now.”Swastika, who had been looking on in frustration as Krishna uprooted the wheat stalks, added, “Phupu, we would have been so happy to harvest the wheat if the stalks had any grain on them.”   <img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08589c7e80680e0a600fjpeg.jpg" alt="">In Dallepata, my uncle Lok Bahadur Buda, who had irrigation on his terrace fields, had exactly the kind of harvest that Swastika would have been happy to help with. Where other villagers had their seeds destroyed, my uncle, thanks to irrigation water, managed to harvest four muri worth of wheat. This was two muri less than the usual yield, but it was better than nothing.Extreme weather like drought and torrential rainfall due to climate change have directly affected traditional agricultural practices in villages like Jhumlawang across Nepal, causing uncertainty and food insecurity. And while my uncle proved that irrigating the fields can result in a good yield even during periods of drought, the villagers here believe that irrigation causes the mulch and manure to settle beneath the soil and not help in improving the harvest.This is why the irrigation channels built by various organisations in these parts are barely used by local farmers. The rains are uncertain, but at least it does not mess with the soil, they believe. Mankumari Budha Bista, vice-chair of Bhume Rural Municipality, says that there is no culture of irrigation among Rukum farmers, who prefer to rely on traditional practices.  <img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d085a9c7e80680e0a6010jpeg.jpg" alt="">Now, just as the drought destroyed the wheat crop, continuous rain since April has damaged crops that do not require much water. The water destroyed much of the germinating potato planted in February. There was no rain when it was needed, and too much when the crops did not require it.“It rained just as the potatoes had begun sprouting, and the water rotted the plants away,” says Birmati bhauju.Even the usually hardy raised fields have been affected by the excessive and untimely rain. Heavy rains right after the maize seeds had been planted hampered their growth. Adding to their concern was a pest infestation in maize crops throughout East Rukum, and farmers are worried there will be locust invasion similar to last year.Such a multi-pronged attack on crops means that the threat of food shortage looms large. Jhumlawang produces two major staples each year: wheat and maize. Continuous rainfall from January to September in 2020 resulted in less-than-optimum maize yield. The drought that began after September then destroyed the wheat crop. The heavy rains that began right after also wiped out the potatoes and this year’s maize.Jhumlawang’s farmers depend on their crops for food security but for a reliable source of income — they are just trying to survive hand-to-mouth. Their immediate worry this year, however, is to save the maize crop and to secure enough seeds for the winter wheat crop.Famine-like conditions in which farmers are forced to eat seeds to survive are not new here in Jhumlawang. But my relatives say that these crises have been occurring more frequently than in the past.  <img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d085d9c7e80680e0a6011jpeg.jpg" alt="">Shiva Buda, who is in charge of the Jhumlawang Community Health Centre, has seen it all before. “In our village,” he says, “the destruction of one crop will bring famine, but the destruction of two staples is catastrophic.”The last two times there were deadly famines here were in 1971 and 1977. Those who were alive then remember surviving on gruel and roots of nettles. Some farmers had to mortgage their jewellery for food. Some of the villagers recall walking for five days on hungry stomachs to get some government relief. “We were born at a time of great pain,” said one farmer.There was, however, a silver lining from the famine. At that time, the village panchayat had asked the residents of Kyangsi, Seema, Morawang and Jhumlawang to dig a road from Ratwamare to Kwachiwang to transport relief materials for the 'Food for Development' program. However, that one road was not adequate for Jhumlawang residents during periods of famine that would follow. Ram Kumari Thapa recalls donning her doko and namlo and going as far as Dalsinge, Dhawanne, Domai and Ratwamare — as far as the limited road system allowed — in search of rice. As she travelled, Ram Kumari realised she was not alone. “When I saw the crowds of people,” she recalls, “I realised just  how many people were on the verge of starvation.”Transportation of food has become easier ever since an unpaved road reached the village two years ago. “Now, as long as we have the money, the food can be transported right to our home,” says Ram Kumari.This year, concerns about natural and climate-induced disasters among villagers have been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing restrictions.“God has sent us death and disaster simultaneously,” Birmati bhauju complains.Dilman Roka, Chairman of Bhume Ward 3, met with Municipality chair Ramsur Buda in February to discuss the food shortage, and the threat of starvation due to food shortages compounded by Covid lockdowns. “Unlike in the cities, where transportation is not an issue, floods and landslides during the monsoon here not only interrupt  good delivery, but also make it expensive,” says Roka.  <img width="400" height="535" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d085f9c7e80680e0a6012jpeg.jpg" alt="">At present, Jhumlawang Village Foundation and Jhumlawang Rural Cooperative have collaborated to transport essential food items from Dang. Village chief Chandra Singh Shrestha says that the local government has written to Kathmandu asking for relief materials for those living in areas that are threatened by food shortages.Additionally, Bhume Rural Municipality has begun making long-term plans to integrate traditional and modern agricultural practices in the region. The municipality has been testing various food crops by allocating areas for agricultural study and research in Maring and is planning to give out grants and concessions to attract prospective young farmers. But most youngsters in Jhumlawang are not interested, and would rather go away to complete higher studies or find work abroad. This has created a shortage of able-bodied adults to tend the farms, contributing to decreased agricultural production further exacerbated by weather extremes and climate change.Like many Nepalis, however, those who go overseas send money back families at home. This means there is some cash to buy food in case the crops fail — proving that much of the remittances Nepalis send home from abroad go for bare day-to-day survival.Those whose family members remain in Nepal make rounds of the village to secure loans, borrowing from local lenders at 30-40% interest, trapping them in a vicious spiral of poverty. <img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08629c7e80680e0a6013jpeg.jpg" alt="">Bhim Prasad Shrestha, a young farmer in Jhumlawang, is worried about his family going hungry this year. “Why would anyone want to farm if months of hard work is destroyed due to drought and downpours like this?” says Shrestha, who returned from Saudi Arabia after working there for eight years.  He has been farming for several years, and describes some programs introduced by the government in East Rukum as impractical and unsuitable because they are more suited to the Tarai.  Shrestha says what is most urgently needed is to connect Jhumlawang to the market, and to incorporate modernised farming in the region.  Bhume rural municipality vice-chair Mankumari Budha Bista agrees. “It has become imperative to adopt timely and modern agricultural methods,” he says. “But we see that it takes time to catch on.” One evening, the lightning illuminates the mountains in pink flashes. There is a crash of thunder, and the rain again comes down in torrents.  My mother looks up to the sky and curses: “थुइया चिर्को पर्ने सर्ग! कस्तो राम देखा होलाई!” (Splitting the sky with lightning! Why such drama?) In my mother’s anger, I see the pain and the hardship of farmers here who struggle to survive and adapt to a changing climate over which they have no control. Translated from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/124847" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">original article</a> by Shristi Karki.

First drought, then downpour

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94d89c7e80680e06f225jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Farming communities across Nepal came out by their hundreds of thousands to transplant rice seedings on Tuesday, which is officially <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/not-so-soon-monsoon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Paddy Plantation Day</a>.Most wore masks as the men waded knee-deep into flooded terraces to level the soil, so that the seedlings could be planted, a work traditionally done by women.Despite the pandemic and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deadly floods this month</a>, most farmers were happy to be out in the fields to take advantage of a monsoon that arrived on time with plenty of rain. Paddy plantation day also coincided with a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-covid-19-lockdown-relaxed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relaxation of Covid-19 lockdowns</a> this week.The 15th day of the Nepali month of Asar is marked as National <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-celebrates-paddy-planting-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paddy Planting Day</a>, and a day for celebration, not just work. Farmers plant their paddy to song and dance, partake in joyous mud-slinging, and enjoy the traditional feast of 'dahi-chiura', curd and beaten rice.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94db9c7e80680e06f226jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94de9c7e80680e06f227jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="639"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94e19c7e80680e06f228jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94e49c7e80680e06f229jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94e69c7e80680e06f22ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94ea9c7e80680e06f22bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94ed9c7e80680e06f22cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94f09c7e80680e06f22djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364">Farmers in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/no-visitors-in-pokhara-to-admire-view/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokhara Valley</a> (pictured below), which grows Nepal's most famous indigenous varieties of rice, were out in force on the terraces at Tari above Begnas Lake and Birauta. Most of them wore masks.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94f49c7e80680e06f22ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94f79c7e80680e06f22fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3200" height="2103"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>After suffering erratic monsoons for the past two decades, Nepal has had favourable and timely rains in the past few years. This has resulted in an increase in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-of-rice-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rice production</a>. In 2020, rice harvests increased by 1.3% to over 5.62 million tonnes of paddy compared to the year before.Rice is the most important crop in Nepal with more than two-thirds of farming households depending on it for their livelihood and income, in turn contributing more than 7% to the GDP.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94fb9c7e80680e06f230jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94fe9c7e80680e06f231jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b95019c7e80680e06f232jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364">Rice is grown in the Tarai plains, along Himalayan Valleys, and up to3,200m in Jumla Valley -- the highest rice growing area in the world.The annual rice planting day is also a reminder of the fact that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/are-nepalis-really-eating-more-rice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal is more dependent on the import</a> of this staple than ever before. It imported rice worth Rs39 billion mainly from India between August 2020 and April 2021, up 64% from the same period the previous year.Pokhara photos: Krishna Mani BaralBhaktapur photos: Monika Deupala and Amit Machamasi

Nepal marks rice planting day

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94619c7e80680e06f1f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="528" height="960"/><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94639c7e80680e06f1f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="448" height="816">All photos and videos: AMIT MACHAMASIEarly and heavy monsoon rains in Nepal have caused death and destruction, but farmers in Kathmandu Valley are happy to plant paddy terraces ahead of the official Asar 15 date.Farmers in Bhaktapur braved torrential rain on Saturday morning to transplant rice seedlings.<img title="" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94659c7e80680e06f1famp4.mp4" alt=""/><img title="" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94679c7e80680e06f1fbx-m4v" alt=""/>Rice is the primary source of livelihood and income for more than two-thirds of people in the country, contributing more than 7% to the total GDP, making it the most important crop of Nepal.Annual monsoon and subsequent paddy production is one of the determining factors for economic growth. The good news is that favourable monsoon in the recent years have increased paddy production. Only past year, Nepal’s rice harvests increased by 1.3% to over 5.62 million tonnes of paddy.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94689c7e80680e06f1fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="528" height="960"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b946a9c7e80680e06f1fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="528" height="960"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b946c9c7e80680e06f1fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="528" height="960"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b946e9c7e80680e06f1ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="528" height="960">But despite the growth in domestic production, Nepal's rice imports have increased, it imported rice worth Rs39 billion mainly from India between August 2020 and April 2021, up 64% from the same period the previous year.

farming