After Repatriation, Youths take to Commercial Farming

Arghakhachi / September 22: Youths returning from foreign employment have been enthusiastically involved in commercial farming, especially animal husbandry and vegetable farming.

Three youths in the district have jointly started a commercial vegetable farm in Karewang. The farm was started on 14 ropani land that had remained barren for years. “In foreign lands we had to work under scorching sunlight of 54 degrees,” said Ram Bahadur Dangal, “and despite such hard work we were always exploited by our employers.” Dangal who worked in Qatar for 9 years, started the farm with his friends by taking the land on lease. “Here we have been earning around half million rupees annually collectively from the farm,” he added while expressing content towards the return he is getting from the business.

The trio produces seasonal and off-seasonal vegetables inside greenhouse which are sold in the local market of Sandhikharka. “Market is not a problem for selling the produce. We can easily get new markets, if we can produce more,” said Ram Bahadur Salami, another partner in the venture, who had also returned from Qatar. “We have kept a pair of bulls to plough our fields and three cows for the manure needed in the farm,” he added.

Salami opines, “if we use energy and dedication with which we worked in foreign land, we can make much better progress in our country.” The trio’s use of the land has been appreciated by locals. The otherwise barren land has been transformed into a fertile and arable land by this trio.

Though the trio’s plan is providing them returns for their efforts, they feel they could do better if they could get irrigation facility. “It would be a great relief and boost for us, if the District Agriculture Office (DAO) constructed a canal here,” said Moti Gaudel, the third partner in the venture and ex-Qatar employee. Gaudal informed that they had received a total of 40,000 rupees support from the DAO and a local NGO working in agriculture sector.

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