सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kanchanpur. Siddharaj Sarki of Shuklaphanta Municipality-9 Sisaiya has been farming vegetables commercially by renting land. He has been farming vegetables for two decades and has rented out one and a half bighas of land. Sarki says that he has earned a good income by selling vegetables worth more than 7 lakhs in 1 year. He has also met the expenses of his family of four from the income from vegetable farming.
Sarki, who has been living on someone else’s land, has purchased a plot of land for his house from the income from vegetable farming. ‘I spent the income from vegetable farming and got my daughter married,’ said Sarki. ‘I was able to pay off the loan I took while buying the land, and the entire household expenses have been met through vegetable farming.’
Sarki said that vegetable farming is the only way to earn money. Earlier, Sarki had cultivated vegetables seasonally in the river bank. He said that while cultivating the river bank, he got the courage to do commercial farming. Recalling the past when he borrowed some money from relatives to cultivate vegetables, Sarki said, “After getting a good income in the first year, I was able to repay that amount, and I used the remaining money to work on vegetable farming.” He said, “After that, I did not have to ask anyone for money.”
Sarki has taken training on commercial vegetable farming from the Agricultural Knowledge Center. Since he is the only farmer in the ward in vegetables, Sarki has also received a tunnel grant from the municipality. He has been growing vegetables in plastic tunnels.
Sarki, who worked in India for two decades, said that he started working in his homeland after earning three times more than in India from vegetable farming. Since he earns a good income in agriculture, he is thinking of calling his son in India to help him. He has been growing vegetables for twelve months and now has green beans, eggplant, beans, peppers, radishes, turnips, and green peas in abundance.
Sarki said that he sold green peppers alone for 20,000 in a month. His garden has produced more than 50,000 in green beans alone. Sarki is preparing to plant gourds, cucumbers, bitter gourds, and farsi. He says that since both the husband and wife are unable to work, they have been hiring three daily wage workers to do the work.
The vegetables produced are easily sold in the local market. Sarki said that they do not have to go looking for a market. He has been emphasizing on off-season vegetables as they yield more income than seasonal ones. Talking about his future plans, Sarki said that he is planning to expand vegetable farming and increase production to earn more income.
‘Currently, the income is between 600,000 and 700,000 rupees per year,’ he said, ‘and there is a plan to double that.’ Sarki has demanded the provision of electric motors for irrigation and power tillers for plowing the fields under grants.
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