सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Gorkha. Commercial walnut farming has been started on 500 ropanis of land that has been barren for years in Barpak Sulikot Rural Municipality of Gorkha. To increase the farmers’ income, walnut farming has been started in Saurapani of Sulikot 3 and 4 through a subsidy program, informed Santosh Dhakal, head of the rural municipality’s agriculture branch.
“The Kagatekharka Multipurpose Farmers’ Group has been formed by including farmers who have land in those two areas, which are at an altitude of about 2,200 meters,” he said. “Farmers belonging to that group have been provided with subsidies for the number of walnuts that can be planted on their land, as per the suggestion of the technician.”
He said that 2,200 walnuts were distributed to farmers under the Chief Minister’s Innovation Program and the rural municipality’s cost sharing. The rural municipality itself purchased grafted walnut seedlings from Jumla and distributed them to the farmers.
He said that the land selected for walnut cultivation has been divided into four ‘plots’ and planting has begun. The farmers have already started planting the seedlings distributed to the farmers by digging trenches at a distance of 10 meters and arranging the necessary fertilizers. He said that the plants planted now will start producing after about four years.
‘When a team including agricultural technicians tested the soil, it was found that the area was very suitable for walnut cultivation,’ he said. ‘The steep land where water does not stagnate and the climate there are also suitable for walnut cultivation, so walnut cultivation has been started from this year.’ He said that more than 1 million rupees were spent on purchasing walnut plants and more than 100,000 rupees for transportation alone.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्