Mahendranagar, August 19

Man Bahadur Chaudhary from Padau of Pipaladi VDC, Kanchanpur, owned five bigaha land before he was rehabilitated in 2001 with the expansion of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.

He was rehabilitated with a mere 10 kattha land at Laxmipur VDC (now Belauri municipality) with his three sons. The reduced land made it difficult for him to earn a livelihood for his family.

Nonetheless, his days of scarcity and crunch became history after his eldest son Achari started vegetable farming on the land provided by the government. “For some years after being displaced, we were having a hard time managing two meals a day, but the vegetable farming has helped us meet household expenses,” shared Achari, 43, who is differently-abled by birth.

For lack of irrigation facility, the land did not yield much crops earlier. Living with a joint family of twenty members, Achari has been cultivating vegetables on 10 kattha land. The income received from vegetable farming has been enough for his household expenses as well as to fund the education of his brothers’ 12 kids.

“I earn around Rs 90,000 in a single season and up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year,” he said. He doesn’t need to worry about taking his product to the market as traders come to his farm. Achari’s vegetables are sold at Belauri and Aibiardi markets. The demand for his vegetables is high among villagers as well.

The training and assistance imparted by Agriculture Development Office, Kanchanpur, had attracted Achari to vegetable farming. “Installation of a tube well by Nepal National Society Welfare has made vegetable farming much easier,” he said.

Raj Kumar Sunar, Programme Coordinator at the Welfare Office, said his organisation had provided Achari with vegetable seeds, keeping in mind his commitment and devotion to farming.