A farmer of Dhanusha has become an exemplary person by producing organic manure using earthworms.
Ram Pukar Yadav, 50, of Ganeshman Charnath Municipality-9, Baramjhiya has been producing organic manure with a plan after farmers are facing shortage of chemical fertilsiers every year.
He sold 18 quintals of organic manure produced by himself this year alone.
Yadav, who has been producing food grains in two bighas of land, had initially started producing organic manure for use in his own field.
He is now focusing on commercial production of organic manure after other farmers in the village started demanding organic manure by realising its importance.
Yadav said that he learned to produce quality manure using earthworm from a seven-day training conducted by the Community Improvement Centre (CIC) Dhanusha two years ago with the financial support of UNDP.
The CIC provided seven kg of earthworm to produce organic manure after the training.
“Initially, I started producing manure from a vermin bin. At present, I am producing manure from eight vermin bins by expanding the venture,” he said.
“In the early days, there was a problem in selling organic manure, but now that its importance has become known to many, farmers from near and far come here to collect manure,” said Yadav.
He said that some farmers ask him to teach them how to produce the manure. “As far as possible, I go to their place and teach them, otherwise I have been giving information here,” he said.
Yadav said that the use of organic manure has maintained the fertility of the soil and also increased the production.
He said that he is planning to open an organic fertiliser sales centre by registering a company in his own name soon.
Chairman of the Community Improvement Centre, Dhanusha Sanjay Sah said that the farmers of Ganeshman Charnath Municipality have been trained to make organic manure from cow and buffalo dung as it is easy to produce manure.
He said that the government should encourage the production and promotion of organic manure as it would reduce the dependence on chemical fertiliser.
The use of organic manure in Nepal is very low.
The expected production is not being achieved even with the use of chemical fertilisers. Therefore, efforts are being made to create awareness among the farmers by providing training and technical assistance to emphasise the production of organic manure, Sah said.
Source : TRN,
