Tharu women of Dhamkapur becoming self-reliant from vegetable farming

Tharu women of Dhamkapur in Tulsipur Sub-Metropolis-15 are becoming self-reliant by cultivating vegetables commercially. One of them is 42-year-old Saini Chaudhary. She has become self-reliant by cultivating coriander commercially and has identified herself as a successful woman farmer.

Sayani, who always carries her coriander to Chhituwa in the morning to sell her produce, says that she saves up to Rs. This time, he says, he has managed to earn Rs. 250,000 from seasonal coriander farming alone. Although she has been practicing this profession since 2058 BS, she has been cultivating it commercially for the past 13 years. He said that he has been cultivating seasonal and non-seasonal coriander twice a year and selling it.

He says that he has bought 17 katthas of land in the village from the income earned from selling coriander. He says that he has started farming for the off-season now. Similarly, Rekha Chaudhary, 50, of the same place has become self-sufficient by growing vegetables commercially. He has been cultivating vegetables including chamsur, spinach, cabbage and tomato in 15 katthas of land. Rekha also comes to Tulsipur Bazaar on foot every morning carrying vegetables for sale.

She says that in the past we used to cultivate paddy but since we could not get good income from it, we have been cultivating vegetables for six years now. She says that he has managed to earn up to four lakh rupees a year. Rekha says that there is a problem of water for irrigation. So far, he has not received any training on vegetable farming.

 Similarly, Rajpati Chaudhary, 40, of the same village has become self-reliant by cultivating vegetables on 14 katthas of land. He says that he has been able to earn Rs. 3.5 million annually from vegetable farming. According to Rajpati, the income from vegetable farming has made it easier for them to teach crop science to their two children. He has been cultivating vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower and cauliflower.

Rajpati says that even though the price of cabbage is cheap, he sells cauliflower and cauliflower up to Rs 50 per kg. He emphasized on the need for local bodies to provide water for irrigation, fair price and marketing of vegetables and provision of improved varieties of seeds and pesticides and training for sustainability in this profession.

Maya Acharya, Deputy Chief of Tulsipur Sub-Metropolis, informed that a vegetable market center building has been constructed in Tulsipur Bazaar to get fair price for the vegetables produced by the women and all the farmers in the municipality. He said that after the construction of the building, the farmers will be allowed to sit in the building from 5 am to 7 am and sell vegetables free of cost.

Stating that it is necessary to bring agriculture program from the sub-metropolis to encourage the farmers who are self-reliant from vegetable farming, Deputy Chief Acharya expressed confidence that working hard in their own country would help them financially as many villages in the district are now financially successful by relying on vegetable farming.