WALING, JULY 24

A farmers' group at Aarukharka in Phedikhola Rural Municipality, Syangja, is making decent income by selling maize seeds.

Jaisidanda Farmers' Group sold 16 tonnes seeds of the 'Manakamana' variety maize in fiscal year 2021-22, earning Rs 1 million 664 thousand.

A women-only farmers' group, Jaisidanda Farmers' Group, has been producing and selling the seeds of this variety of maize for the last 11 years.

Sangeeta Hamal, the group's chairperson, said, 'We have been producing the 'Manakamana-3' maize seeds for the last 11 years. We sold 16 thousand 641 kilogrammes maize seeds last fiscal year at the rate of Rs 100 per kilogram.'

The Group sold 10-tonne seeds and earned Rs 900,000 in fiscal year 2020- 21. Hamal said that there was high demand for seeds of this variety of maize in various districts, including Syangja and they have not been able to meet the growing demand.

'We had the target of producing around 20 tonnes seeds this year but could not meet the target due to drought and other reasons,' Hamal said.

Kalpana Poudel, the treasurer of the Group, said that the seeds they produced were supplied to the local market in Syangja as well as Pokhara, Chitwan, Gorkha, and Lamjung, among other places. She said there was no problem of market as the seeds were in high demand from agriculture-related offices, organisations, and agro-vets within the district as well as outside the district.

The samples of the seeds produced are sent to the laboratory to examine its germination power, moisture content and purity. Once the seeds qualify after lab test, the maize seeds are collected from farmer's fields and brought to the collection centre for the purpose of selling.

The Group claimed that the quality of seeds produced and their results have remained constant from the beginning. Though the farmers faced no major challenge in sustaining their business, they are struggling against the monkey menace. The Group has hired people to chase away the animals.

According to rural municipality Chair Ghanshyam Subedi, the Group is producing the best variety of seeds in Gandaki Province.

The group has been getting 15 per cent subsidy from the local government on seeds production for the past four years.

Moreover, it has been awarded over Rs five million grants for the purchase of agricultural tools and training time and again. Production of hybrid seeds is the priority of the local government also. It has identified Arukharha-3 as a suitable zone for the production of hybrid maize and are planning to develop it as a pocket zone for the production of maize of 'Manakamana-5' variety. The government has allocated budget of Rs 2.5 million to promote commercial production in the area.

The local government ensures a 15 per cent subsidy on agricultural productions, according to rural municipality Chair Ghanashyam Subedi. It has listed 25 agro-productions for subsidy.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.