Sharda Poudel of Hemja has been active in potato farming for 27 years. 8/10 years ago, she used to grow 25 quintals of potatoes annually in 2 plantations located in Pokhara Metropolitan City-25. In recent years, his field barely yields 15 quintals of potatoes. There is no water in winter. Earlier, the train used to come within 24 hours.

These days the spring is also drying up . The settlement has also increased a lot,' said 52-year-old Sharda. Sharda has made up her mind not to grow potatoes now. Due to insufficient irrigation, expensive fertilizers, production decline, she has tried to avoid potato cultivation. "Earlier, chicken manure was available for Rs 150 a bag. Now it costs 650. There is nothing for the farmers,' she added, 'It doesn't seem like anything will be done by farming now.' In Hemja, which has gained fame in potato production, there is an increasing trend of house building in the potato growing fields . Arjun Timilsina, who has been cultivating potatoes for a decade and a half, says that the production has decreased due to soil not being improved, houses falling on cultivable land, and cultivation being expensive. There were no houses around my farm. Potatoes were cultivated. Now there is plotting, houses and factories have been built," he said, "I used to farm in 20-25 plantations. Now there are only 10 plantations. In the space of 10 years, the number of houses in Hemja area has increased by 52.10 percent.

According to the 078 census, there are 4,592 houses in Pokhara-25. In the census of 068, there were 3 thousand 19 houses in current Pokhara-25, including Hemja gavis of Savik. 1 thousand 573 houses (52.10 percent) have been added in 10 years. In 068, there were 2 thousand 113 farmers in Hemja gavis of Savik. The number of subsistence and commercial farmers of Hemja listed in the Metropolitan Municipality is currently 1,624. 489 farmers have decreased here. This data shows that the number of agricultural workers has decreased after the construction of houses in the fields. Land for house building and farming should be separated. Valuable agricultural land has been destroyed in our area,' said Timilsina.

The fields around the house built in Hemja market area. Due to the migration from neighboring Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality including Parvat, Baglung, Myagdi, the process of building houses in Hemja's potato producing fields is increasing year by year. Photo Courtesy: Nirajan Adhikari

After the residents of the villages around Hemja started migrating due to the development of the road, the process of adding houses started here . The number of people coming to Hemja area from Parbat, Baglung, Myagdi along with the neighboring Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality has increased . The place is named as 'Magdi Chowk' because it descends from Magdi in the upper belt of Hemja. In the lower belt where potato cultivation is more, there are more people from Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality . Close to Pokhara market, the availability of all kinds of facilities is the main reason for the development of Hemja settlement. With settlement development and ease of service facilities, Hemja has taken the form of a city from a rural area within a decade.

However, due to the lack of a systematic settlement development concept, potato cultivation has been in crisis for years. According to the data of Krishi Gyan Kendra Kaski, potatoes are cultivated in an area of ​​1,789 hectares in Kaski. Among the 5 municipalities, 69.87 percent of the total area of ​​cultivation is within Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality. Out of the 33 wards of Pokhara, wards 13, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 have a lot of potato cultivation, according to the statistics of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality Agriculture and Animal Development Division. Farmers in Hemja plant MS 42.3 variety of potato . Elsewhere, Janakdev, PBS, Angure varieties of potatoes are produced a lot. 

In Pokhara, potatoes are grown in an area of ​​1,250 hectares, according to the statistics of Agricultural Knowledge Center Kaski for 2080/81. Annually 22 thousand 500 tons of potatoes are produced from there. Potatoes are cultivated in about 450 hectares of Hemja where about 5 thousand tons of potatoes are grown annually. Hemja has met the demand of about 40 percent of potatoes consumed in Pokhara. According to the data of the Metropolitan Corporation, potato production has increased in Pokhara from 2077/78 to 2080/81. In 2077/78, 21 thousand 301 tons of potatoes were grown in 1 thousand 253 hectares. In 2080/81, 22,500 tons of potatoes have grown on 1,250 hectares. Manhar Kadaria, head of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality's Agriculture and Livestock Division, said that although potato cultivation has decreased in Hemja area, potato production has increased in other areas of Pokhara.

The potatoes produced in Pokhara are 41.58 percent less than what is needed. Based on the population, according to the data obtained by the Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality last year, only 16 thousand 12 metric tons of potatoes are produced here out of the annual requirement of 38 thousand 512 tons. The remaining potatoes are imported from neighboring Annapurna Rural Municipality, Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality and Terai. In addition to branding Hemja's potatoes, the Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality has set a minimum support price of Rs 30.

Customers buying potatoes at the Hemja Potato Festival. Photo: Anup Poudel/Kantipur

means that the farmer does not have to sell at less than 30 rupees per kg. 3 years ago Coldstore was built in Hemja . 50% subsidy is given by the Metropolitan Municipality for potato seed production and cold storage. Manhar Kadaria, head of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality's Agriculture and Livestock Division, says that despite the increase in the investment of the government agencies, building a house on the farm is a matter of concern for Hemja's potato farming. ``There is no land for those who say they will do farming . Taking the land and cultivating it became expensive. There is also a problem of water in winter,' he says about the reason, 'I think another habit of suffering has also decreased . If not, the government's investment has increased more than before.' 

Chief Kadaria claims that there is no lack of market to sell potatoes in Pokhara. He says that potato is a cash crop that gives good profit in a short period of time as it is planted after harvesting rice. It does not mean that potatoes will not be sold, and that there will be no market. It is a cash crop that can earn good income in 130 days," he added, "producing 1 kg costs 23/24 rupees. Selling at Rs 42 is good.' 

The organizers are worried that the festival itself will be in crisis due to the decrease in potato production due to the growing slum development. Club president Vasant Kumar Shrestha says that the production land has started to disappear due to the development from rural to urban areas in a short period of time. "There has been a lot of settlement in the upper part of Hemja". Cultivable land there is less than the bottom . This trend has also increased in Badhare, Maisthan, where potatoes are grown," he said. President Shrestha says that the government needs to pay special attention to the protection of productive land through policy. He says that if the arable land is not protected, there will be no potato production at all. ``It is an urgent challenge that tomorrow's production will be a problem . There is a problem that there is a potato festival, but the potato itself is not produced," said Shrestha. 

With the aim of protecting arable land, in November 2019, Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality did land classification by separating agricultural and non-agricultural areas. A writ was filed in the High Court in Pokhara after placing agriculture as non-agriculture and non-agriculture as agriculture. After the court ordered to inform the local people and work, the Metropolitan Corporation issued a notice to file a petition in case of complaints regarding the previous land classification. Mayor Dhanraj Acharya said that preparations are being made to separate agricultural and non-agricultural areas soon after studying the received application. The reason for the increase in the market for potatoes produced in Hemja is the potato festival held here every year. The festival was started in the year 066 with the purpose of promotion and marketing of potatoes produced in the village.