Tika R Pradhan

Chovar, March 29:

Five years ago, Bisshu Khadka, a housewife used to buy vegetables from Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market. But now Khadka has become a businesswoman as she sells vegetables in the same market. Her annual income exceeds Rs 45,000. “Having cauliflower curry and tomato pickle used to be a matter of pride in the village. But now its everyday meal,” she says. She is a role model for those who plan to take up vegetable farming in Bhutkhel, now known as Bhaktikhel, situated at Ward No 15 of Kirtipur Municipality. As the market is close to the village, the other housewives are gradually attracted to this profession after Makhkhan Karki, another housewife, proved vegetable farming to be a profitable business. “She used to carry vegetables in a bamboo basket to sell in the market while I used to follow her with a bag full of my own,” said Bisshu explaining how she had begun the journey. She cultivates vegetables in more than five ropanis of land — four ropanis are on lease while one-and-a-half is her own. Another housewife, Iswori Khadka, has two ropanis of land on which she cultivates vegetables and earns Rs 45,000 a year. A local teacher at Taudaha Rastriya Secondary School, Nanda Kumar Karki, said he along with his wife Makkhan was lured to this profession after a species of pumpkin yielded fantastic results. “We sold the pumpkins and continued to cultivate more and more which later became our profession,” he added.

The couple now makes Rs 90,000 on an average each year. They cultivate vegetables on eight ropanis of land but they own one-and-a-half ropanis only. They have to pay Rs 5,000 to the landowner. Karki said that he was also inspired by an expert of the Nepal Agriculture Research Council at Khumaltar.

Presently eight households are involved in vegetable farming here. “People are attracted to this business because the soil is fertile and the market is also nearby,” said Bisshu. She, however, pointed out that lack of irrigation facility has hindered their production. “If we had irrigation facilities we would have yielded much more,” she added. According to her, at times, crop diseases give headache to farmers.