Sukha Dev Maharjan is one of the many farmers now focusing their efforts on tomato farming. The 37-year-old farmer from Pharping farms on 2.26 acres of land and is happy with the income he generates. “There’s profit to be earned from tomatoes,” says the farmer who employs 12 people. 

Maharjan worked in a department store in the Gulf for two and a half years before returning to Nepal in 2003. “After returning, I wanted to do something in Nepal instead of going abroad again. That’s why I considered investing in agriculture. I had a comfortable job in the Gulf but I knew I didn’t want to stay there for long.”

Since tomato farming is seasonal, he also breeds goats. Life is pretty good, he says. For Shree Krishna Adhikari, agriculture has become more than a profitable business. One of the earliest of hundreds of Nepalis who are going to Israel to learn farming, Adhikari worked there for eight years. He returned with knowledge that he counts more valuable than the healthy amount of money he managed to earn.

He was a head medical assistant in Hetauda doing well for himself before the civil war forced him to leave for Israel in 2003. Sitting in his living room in Kathmandu with his wife and child, he says, “The civil war made life very tough, so I had to leave even though I was doing well for myself. The two different parties of the war couldn’t stand that we were treating the wounded from the other group.” 

Describing his years in Israel, Adhikari, 32, says, “I spent the first two years regretting arriving there. But then I began to absorb and learn all about agriculture.” Now he’s wholly absorbed in farming, leaving home early in the morning and returning late at night. He works as a technician in a farm in Dharmasthali and also grows vegetables in his own 0.62 acres of land near his home in Gol Dhunga.

He started by farming in his hometown of Hetauda on 1.67 acres that was extremely dry and appeared unsuitable to cultivation. “But we managed to turn it over and now this has inspired more than 20 farmers there to do the same,” he smiles. Adhikari grows tomatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, coriander, spinach and Israeli cucumber in his lands. While he supplies the Israeli cucumbers to Israeli and Korean restaurants in Thamel, he sells the rest to vegetable brokers at Kalimati.

Making a profit of Rs 30,000 to 40,000 per month, he is a satisfied farmer. He says, “Agriculture in Israel is research-based. The way they’ve revolutionized agriculture is absolutely inspiring and we should learn from them. Nepal is very lucky to be blessed with good lands and different temperatures which we should all be utilizing to the maximum.”

He has also been sharing his knowledge with other farmers. For instance, he teaches them about the benefits of drip irrigation, which in a country like Nepal could be lifesaving for them. “We face water scarcity, and drip irrigation is the answer to that problem. It works using only the right amount of water and saves time and labor in the process,” he says, pointing to the thin straw-like tubes running around the plants.

Buddhi Ram Dhakal, 33, is another excited farmer. Along with his older brother Dhaka Ram, 38, and Prabin Bidari, 32, he has been toiling diligently for the last seven months in their 4.39 acres of land in Machhe Gaun. The land is perfectly situated along the main road, and the trio has leased it for 10 years. Dhakal has already sold Israeli cucumbers. Next in line are the ripe pumpkins, to be followed by tomatoes within a couple of months.

Traditional farming methods should be displaced by new practical skills, he believes. He has more than five years of experience working for different farmers in Israel, and he says, “For farmers to enjoy continuous profit, we must now utilize modern ways of farming. Every one of us should start setting up greenhouses to protect our plants from weather constraints and reap better produce.”

In their farm, 70 10-foot-high greenhouses dot the landscape. Rows of vegetable plants sprout through black plastic. That, Dhakal explains, protects plants from weeds and even insects, thus saving labor time.

The trio has plans to lease another 1.88 acres adjacent to their present plot. “We’re trying new things and learning each day. I think we’re already doing well. We reaped 30 kilos of cucumber from just one row! We’re now thinking of selling our vegetables in Butwal, Pokhara and Narayanghat, maybe even Bangladesh,” he says.

In a project arranged by the Small Farmers Development Bank and the Israeli Embassy in Nepal, 205 Nepali students left for Israel in September last year. By the time they return in October this year, the group will have ample knowledge and even capital to do something of their own here.

According to Jhalendra Bhattarai, Senior Manager at Sana Kisan Bikas Bank, the candidates must be members or children of the members of the bank and between 22 and 30 years, have graduated from high school and preferably have farm experience. There are around 400 cooperatives in 56 districts associated with the bank, and last year, students from eight districts were selected for the program. Once their names have been nominated by the bank cooperatives, they’ll be interviewed by the Israeli Embassy. “We’re focusing on grassroots youth because we want young people who will actually come back and work in agriculture,” Bhattarai says empathically.

Students attend one full day of class and work for five days in farms, earning 23 Shekels (Rs 626) per hour. The second batch of 360 students from 17 districts will be leaving in September this year.

Upendra Adhikari, 27, is studying in Israel’s Arava International Center for Agriculture Training. “I had heard a lot about the highly developed agriculture techniques in Israel,” says Upendra. “People were starting to follow the Israeli agriculture system in their farms.”

He says they’re learning plant science as well as how to grow more. “We also learnt how to search the market for the best products, to manage human resource, minimize the costs and grow more with minimum costs.”

Upendra is planning to start work on a ginger farm once he returns. He is very enthusiastic about the future. “Our climate, water, soil and everything is very suitable for agriculture. We have a very good market for honey, ginger, coffee, tea, herbs, among others.”

Another student, Nitesh Yogi, had reasons for going to Israel for his interests in off-season vegetation and dairy farm management. The 25-year-old from Butwal is one of the 50 students from Nepal in Ramat Negev International Training Center for Advance Agriculture.

“I was surprised to learn that a cow can give up to 70 liters of milk in a day. Here, the average milk production per cow is 35 liters, about the production from three good cows in Nepal,” he says. “Youth in agriculture is the future and without their involvement in this sector, it doesn’t bode well for the future,” Bhattarai points out, adding that it’s high time the government did something for this sector.

“We need the government to step in. For starters, the returning students will need help with capital and infrastructure (electricity, water, plants) subsidies. A capital grant for five to 10 years with zero or minimum interest would be extremely helpful to young farmers,” he suggests.

Dhakal’s partner Prabin Bidari states the government also needs to work on the interest rate of agricultural loans. “How come housing loans have 10% interest rate and agricultural loans are about 14% despite the government saying that agriculture is a priority in the country?”

According to Parwati Silwal, local level manager of a cooperative bank in Pharping, there are two loan schemes: 9% interest for livestock, and 15% interest for vegetables. “The 9% scheme is very popular as the actual going rate for such loans is anything between 20 to 22%,” she says.

She adds, “There have been many young people who used to work abroad before but now they have taken loans and have started their agriculture businesses.”

Published on: 1 June 2014 | Republica