A fork in the road to Rio: Nepal

Q: How important is the exchange of knowledge between farmers and scientists?

A: The relationship between farmers and scientists is like that of rock and soil - we are dependent on each other. Working with the scientists, we have learnt to modify our traditional knowledge to get the most from our land. The land near my house is very fertile but waterlogged. Everybody in my neighborhood used to think I was insane to start farming there, but now the land has become very productive and I have been able to commercialize orange, coffee and lemon farming. I use traditional organic manure techniques, such as worm farming and collecting the urine and dung of cows and buffaloes. You need to respect the land and follow nature’s rules – you cannot go wrong if you do that.

We have also come to understand how to improve traditional crop varieties. Through training, I have developed from a farmer into a breeder. 

Q: How has gaining more in-depth knowledge about plant breeding helped you?

A: As part of a project to empower communities to manage agricultural biodiversity on the farm, I was introduced to the wild rice ‘Nabo’, the ancestor of modern rice varieties which grows naturally at Rupa Lake.  After training with the scientists, we tried to cross the wild rice with locally cultivated landraces to produce new varieties to withstand swampy and marshy lake lands. Crossing wild rice with improved varieties allows you to take the good characteristics (such as water logging resistance) and replace negative ones (such as low production). Success depends not only on me but on nature and knowledge. If nature is on our side and if we get help from scientists then we will probably succeed. 

Two new varieties I am working on, ‘Biramphool’ and ‘Mansara’, have become very popular. Biramphool is valued for its taste and high cooking quality, while Mansara has a good adaptive trait under low fertility, low moisture conditions. We are continuing our research on these and also working on two new varieties - Ghaiya and Kathe Kurdi.

Q: You have become well-known in your local area and further afield, spreading knowledge about how to use agricultural biodiversity on the farm for sustainable production and improved livelihoods. Why is it important to you to pass on what you have learnt?

A: My interest has always been in sharing knowledge to empower the community. We teach the breeding methods we have learnt to those who are interested whether from our local communities here in Nepal or to international visitors. We have a local Participatory Plant Breeding Group of 27 members including 8 women, as well as other groups like the women’s association, where we learn from each other.

I feel that programmes that can improve the livelihoods of poor and marginalized people dependent on agriculture should be initiated and promoted especially those that recognize individual farmers’ problems at the community level and that ‘one size does not fit all’.  Community-based programmes that have the active participation and involvement of farmers are a must.

We also encourage visitors to the farm. We are part of a home stay programme through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms  [5] which we joined around 7 years ago. Around 80 to 90 people come to stay every year to learn about how to farm organically and grow crops like coffee.

A big worry is the lack of young people’s interest in the agricultural sector here in Nepal. They prefer to go abroad or migrate towards city areas in search of money, even if they have to leave their land barren.  We would like to establish an agricultural college in Lekhnath (a municipality in the Kaski District) to help shift attitudes of younger people towards agriculture.  If there was at least one agricultural college in each district, then the younger generation of our country, would change their views.