Lots of vegetables have grown in the field near the house of Sher Bahadur Rawal of Budhiganga Municipality-8 of Bajura.
After the prohibitory order was issued in the district due to COVID-19, the vegetables grown in his field are rotting down.
He started vegetable farming three years ago in the hope that it would be easier to make a living from vegetables than cash crops.
Rawal, who earned a good income from vegetable farming in the first year, is in a stage of decay in his vegetable farm this year. Vegetables grown in his farm had rotten last year due to lockdown.
Vegetables grown in his garden are decaying in the field as the market has not been opened due to the lockdown in the district. Farmer Rawal, who is a leading farmer of Budhiganga Municipality-8, said that he has been cultivating vegetables for three years.
In the first year, around Rs. 150,000 was saved from vegetable farming. Last year and this year, he faced huge losses due to lockdown enforced to prevent and control COVID-19.
Last year, the municipality collected 80 quintals of vegetables from the ward and supplied them for those living in quarantine. He also complained that it was very difficult to sell even one kg of vegetables this year as the market was not open due to strict restrictions in the district.
In Budhiganga, all the markets in the municipality, including Dab, Malika Rita, Betalmandau Bamka Falasain, and Tampri Sera Balde are closed.
He said that vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, bean, pumpkin, and cabbage have been grown in the fields. As the vegetables cannot be kept in the field for a long time, there is a concern that the vegetables will rot in the field as they are not sold out quickly, said Rawal. Rawal said that vegetables worth Rs. 350,000 were sold annually.
This year, it has become very difficult to sell the vegetables, he said. “Along with vegetables, I have 650 chickens and 250 fish in the fish pound. I have also planted 200 lemon trees,” he said
Source : THE RISING NEPAL,
