Annual vegetable production reaches 13,000 tonnes

Siraj Khan / Nepalgunj, Sept. 15: Farmers in Banke have increasingly turned to commercial vegetable farming after gaining better market prices for their produce in recent times.

According to Sujita Sharma, information officer at the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Banke, even farmers who previously engaged in subsistence farming are now stepping forward to cultivate vegetables commercially.

She said that around 13,000 tonnes of vegetables are produced annually on 6,352 hectares of land in Banke.

Under the Women and Children Nutrition Improvement Programme, the Agriculture Knowledge Centre has distributed seeds of bottle gourd, pumpkin, bitter gourd and winter vegetables to 1,350 farmers. Sharma said farmers have increasingly been attracted to vegetable farming as a cash crop.

Farmers said that they have started receiving better prices for their produce directly from their fields after customs checks on vegetables imported from India were tightened. Farmers have been engaged in commercial vegetable farming in various villages of Duduwa Rural Municipality-6, Hirminiya, and Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City wards 14 (Bhawaniyapur), 17 (Parsapur), 19 (Basudevpur) and 21 (Puraina).

Aslam Rai, a farmer from Nepalgunj-15, Jayaspur, said many farmers in his village have now started vegetable farming.

“Previously, we had to travel long distances to sell vegetables. Now, we can sell them at good prices directly from our fields, more farmers in the village have started vegetable farming,” he said.

Motisara Thapa Chhetri, chairperson of the Ranitalau Agricultural Produce Market Management Committee in Nepalgunj, said local farmers have found a market for their produce after customs checks on vegetables imported from India were tightened.

According to Chhetri, most of the vegetables arriving at the Ranitalau market in Nepalgunj are currently produced in Banke.

Domestic agricultural produce has found a market due to the requirement to pay customs duties on vegetables imported from India for commercial purposes.

Traders have reduced imports as agricultural produce becomes more expensive after customs duties are paid.

Mohiuddin Rai, a wholesaler at the Ranitalau wholesale vegetable market in Nepalgunj, said local farmers, who previously struggled to compete with cheaper vegetables imported from India, have now started receiving better prices for their produce.

According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, the Nepalgunj market is currently supplied mainly by locally produced vegetables, including cauliflower, cabbage, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber, cowpea, brinjal, tomato and chilli.

Jalaluddin Bagwan, a farmer from Puraina village in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City-21, said farmers have been getting better prices for their vegetables after imports from India declined.

He said that in the past, farmers were often forced to sell their produce at low prices even after taking it to the market, whereas they are now able to sell fresh vegetables at better prices directly from their fields.