Rishi Baral

Lekhnath (Kaski), February 24:

Established 10 years ago by the farmers of Talbesi in Kaski district, the Peasants to Peasants Organisation (PPO) is working wonders for them now.

The platform provided by PPO is being used for sale of crops, saplings, vegetable seeds, seedlings and manure in Lekhnath municipality and Pokhara sub-municipality.

Farmers had set up the PPO at the border of Lekhnath municipality, Rupakot and Hansapur VDC for generating extra income.

Yam Nath Bhurtel, the PPO manager said its annual income was around Rs 700,000 and that it generates activities ranging from coffee farming, off season vegetable farming, making improvised stoves, toilet construction, wiremess weaving and beehive construction. It also provides services in preparing organic insecticide, running nurseries, producing liquid manure and agro-based products and conducting training programmes on these activities.

Bhurtel informed that the PPO has provided training on production of agriculture-based goods to over 4,000 peasants in the span of last five years. The PPO mainly aims to produce trained local farmers.

The PPO has a space of 15 ropanis of agricultural land for the training programme.

The organisation has managed to construct a seven-room building for the purpose of training. It has 50 members with roughly equal numbers of males and females but targets to recruit more female members.

“The PPO has no support from any government or non-government organisation. It has arrived here with the sole support of farmers”, Bhurtel claimed.

The PPO has laid more stress on beekeeping. It has three employees on daily wage to construct beehives. The PPO sells the hives to interested farmers. It also sells bees, agriculture products, manure, seed and saplings.

PPO targets unemployed youths for generating trainees. The members provide training. “We succeeded in making many young persons self-dependent”, Bhurtel said. PPO is taking no fees from farmers with low income and negligible money from others. PPO also provides information related to technological, practical and geographical areas, if demanded. If asked for counselling by any agriculture-related organisation, PPO provides service for 3 days free of charge.