सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Ilam. Suryodaya Municipality has started tightening the use of pesticides to prevent the risk of cancer. The municipality has started tightening after the city’s farmers started increasing the amount of pesticides in vegetables and other crops.
The municipality is also encouraging farmers to run an organic tea production campaign. ‘If the tea we produce itself falls victim to the disease, it cannot be sold in the world market.’ Mayor Rana Bahadur Rai said, ‘We do not eat poison, we do not sell poison. Although we have been running a campaign to produce organically for the past year, statistics have shown the use of pesticides, so we are now strictly regulating pesticides.’
The municipality has seen the highest number of cancer patients among the patients recommended for financial assistance for health services under the Poor Citizen Assistance Program in the last two fiscal years.
Out of the 57 patients recommended in the fiscal year 2079/080, the highest number of 40 were cancer patients, while 10 were kidney and 7 were heart patients. Similarly, this figure increased last year, bringing the total number of recommendations to 82. The figure also includes the highest number of 50 cancer patients. Similarly, 20 kidney patients, 3 heart patients, and 3 head injuries were recommended for health services, informed Suryodaya Municipality Health Branch Chief Bipul Adhikari.
This figure is expected to increase further in the current year. These are only the data available based on the applications submitted to the municipality seeking health services. Apart from this, there are many cancer patients who are undergoing treatment or have lost their lives without coming into contact with the municipality. Although the cause of cancer in all of them is not only the poison in tea, most of the reasons may be poison, said Suryodaya-8 Ward Chairman Jang Gurung.
‘I lost a family member to cancer last year. When I went to many doctors, they told me that the disease was caused by poison.’ He said, ‘From the Eastern Cancer Hospital in Jhapa to many hospitals in the capital, senior doctors pointed out poison as the cause.’
Ward Chairman Gurung said that work has been started to declare his ward as an organic ward this year. ‘I lost a relative. Today, cancer patients are being found in every house. We should be aware of this plight before everyone else suffers.’ He said, ‘More tea is grown in Ward No. 8 than in all the wards of Suryodaya. The largest tea industry is here. We are starting the organic ward declaration from here.’
Stating that in the first phase, the ward held discussions with farmers, tea industrialists, traders, representatives of local political parties, representatives of Tol Bikas, crop insurance companies, etc., Ward Chairman Gurung said that now awareness programs will be held with farmers in the villages and training and other programs related to organic production will be conducted for them.
‘Poisons affect not only human health but also our world image. Tea should be made drinkable. Farmers get good prices when the production is organic and of good quality.’ Mayor Rai said, ‘We should not ignore sensitive issues like health by looking at momentary benefits.’
It does not mean that all tea produced at sunrise is poisonous. Some tea gardens are also organic. Ram Prasad Rai of Suryodaya-9 Dhode has been cultivating tea organically for six years. His tea garden, spread over an area of 16 ropanis, produces 80 kg daily. “We give Rs 100 per kg to Sundarpani Agricultural Cooperative Society, which sells it to Gorkha Tea Estate with a profit of Rs 1,” Rai said. “The minimum support price for tea set by the municipality is Rs 40 per kg. But since our tea is organic, we have received a price of more than Rs 100.”
Not only Rai, but all the farmers of Sangpang Tole Dhode are abandoning the use of chemical fertilizers and using cow and goat manure. ‘Tea sprouts grow slowly, eating it does not harm health, and the selling price is also good.’ Farmer Man Bahadur Rai said, ‘Cow manure should be applied once and ‘Rakshin’ made from wheat should be applied twice a year. If other tillage and irrigation are done, the yield will be better than that of pesticides.’
The families of Binod Moktan, Bimal, Sushila, Ram Prasad, Purna and Tara Rai of this village are busy with tillage, fertilizing, irrigation and harvesting of tea in the morning and evening. Man Bahadur said that although it is a little late due to lack of rain, this year’s harvesting will start from the first week of Chaitra. According to him, the fertile period for green tea production is six months from Chaitra to Asoj.
The municipality is running a campaign to produce organic tea since cancer kills citizens and the product is not exported to the world market due to poor quality. The tea price has not improved since Suryodaya, which set a minimum support price for tea six years ago, has a problem selling Nepali tea in countries including India.
‘Earlier, India used to test CFL when buying tea from here, but now it is testing for phishing in addition to that.’ Mayor Rai said, ‘This makes it difficult for our tea to be sold easily in India. If the tea is not organic, then all the tea will not be sold. Understanding this problem, farmers should make their products pesticide-free and of high quality.’
The municipality distributed hand-held tea plucking machines to 300 farmers last year to improve tea plucking. ‘The minimum support price will be implemented after the plucking is improved. About 300 hand-held tea plucking machines have been distributed. This distribution will be done this year as well. The ‘Tea Testing and Researching Center’, which was built to ‘brand’ tea and test ‘tea’, has come into operation.’
The slogan of the municipality’s long-term vision is ‘Prosperity of Suryodaya Municipality, Organic Agriculture, Tourism and Economic Equality’. Devendra Acharya, coordinator of the Municipal Economic Development Committee, said that an awareness program has been conducted in 252 villages of all 14 wards after declaring the municipality as a pesticide-free municipality on 1st July 2075 BS. He said, “We are running an organic-oriented campaign through programs like Goth reform, Bhakaro reform, and soil testing.”
The municipality has set a goal of achieving economic prosperity from tea itself. Suryodaya, which has been working hard to improve the quality by creating procedures, is facing criticism for not being able to stop the use of pesticides in tea. On the other hand, there is no subsidy program to attract farmers to organic farming. Chief Administrative Officer Amrit Bahadur Rai said, “Even if a subsidy of Rs. 1 per kilo is given for tea, which has become a source of income for more than 80 percent, it requires an investment of crores of rupees. It does not seem that the problems of farmers will be easily solved by the efforts of the local government alone. The local government is in trouble because the provinces and the union do not invest in improving tea.”
Industrialists have demanded support for the promotion of international ‘branding’ of Nepali tea, and subsidies for small farmers based on green leaf production like sugarcane. Industrialist Uday Chapagain said that the government is stingy in giving subsidies to tea like in other sectors of agriculture. “Farmers should be given concessions to find sustainable solutions to the problems of the tea sector.” He said, “The government can support farmers with fertilizers, irrigation and subsidies. “Organic production is the only option to make the international tea market sustainable.”
Out of the 5.5 million ready-made orthodox teas produced in Nepal, only 300,000 kg are organic. There are more than 62 tea processing industries in Suryodaya Municipality. Out of these, 52 industries are affiliated with the Suryodaya Tea Association. Green tea leaves from around 3,000 farmers are processed here. The industries here process green leaves produced not only by Suryodaya Municipality but also by farmers from Maijogmai, Rong and others. The prepared tea here reaches third countries including India.
Tea cultivation has been taking place on 12,066 hectares in Nepal. Ilam is the district with the highest tea production in the country. There are 6,995 gardens here. Suryodaya Municipality is also known as the tea capital. Garden operators have said that 108 million kilos of green leaves are being produced from 11,041 gardens across the country.
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