'Karnali Man' in search of herbs

But there is not a lot of work done on the individual level in the field of herb utilization. Rajendra Bishta of Birendra Nagar-3 Eri Chowk in Surkhet is one of them.

Rajendra, who was born in Chamundabindrasaini Municipality-2 Sirol of Dailekh, has an amazing fascination with herbs. He spent some years in identifying and researching the herbs of Karnali. Now they are processing the same herbs to produce various materials. He completed his ISC from Amrut Science (Askal) Campus and did his Masters in Science from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, India. He came to Surkhet and taught for some time. But later he thought that he should do something about the subject he studied, he stopped teaching and started a business.

Then he opened Bio Karnali Aroma Private Limited Company. By bringing raw materials from India, they started producing 11 types including hand wash, shampoo, face wash, sarf, finel. As the demand in the market increased, instead of bringing raw materials from abroad, his mind turned towards natural production using herbs found naturally in Karnali. After that, he formally started studying the herbs of Karnali.

For five years, he went to the lakes of Jumla, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Mugu, Surkhet and other districts of Karnali. He studied what kind of materials can be produced from the herbs found there. For the last one and a half years, Rajendra has been making various products using Karnali herbs. For this he has opened a processing industry. Now he is producing herbal hand wash, herbal tea, morning tea, sea buckthorn juice, essential oil, lemon grass and three types of oil. He has been producing various materials from herbs such as dhatelo, deodar oil, dale chuk, tejpat, horse pepper, belchanda, lemongrass, camphor, and samyo. He said that the materials produced by

are sent to Surkhet, Nepalgunj, Kathmandu and to Singapore, France, Japan and Spain. There is a very good demand in cities including Kathmandu. But the supply has not been able to meet the demand," he said. He said that he could not produce according to the demand because he was alone in the business. For the production of

material, he uses herbs collected from farmers in different districts of Karnali. He has also helped some farmers to cultivate herbs through cooperatives. Now he himself has started cultivation of 7 types of herbs in two bighas. It contains herbs like Tulakshi, Hivascus, Kurilo, Stevia, Asogandha etc. They have also given employment to 6 people, two in the farm and four in the industry.

In the future, he is thinking of processing the herbs of Karnali in Karnali and bringing more products to the market. For that, the young generation should also be active in this field, he said. Apart from that, he also plans to build a herbal study center. "We want the youth to learn about the cultivation of herbs," he said.

Rajendra has experience that working in the field of herbs is not so easy. He feels that the state's approach to this sector is discriminatory. He says that the government has failed to make a policy on herbal cultivation, production and processing. "The government does not allow extraction of herbs easily. Farmers are not even taught that they should cultivate herbs from the government level,' he says, 'It is a hassle to send the materials produced from herbs abroad.'

In addition, he said that there is a lack of labs and research centers to study herbs in the country. "You can't even study herbs in any university in Nepal. Therefore, there has been a problem for the search and processing of herbs. He suggested that farmers should be attracted to this cultivation from the government level as it is caused by low irrigation and wild animals do not have much effect. He says that the herbs that are transported in sacks from Karnali can be exported abroad at a high price if they are well packaged.