Meen Bahadur Mahato of Kawasoti-17 of Nawalpur, Nawalparasi (Bardghat Susta East) has been earning a good income from melon farming. Lately, in the field where he planted fruit, the fruit has ripened and become Pahelpur. He is now busy picking fruit and sending it to the market.
Mahato, who cultivated fruit in three bighas, has now sold 60 tons of fruit. He said that he earned about 18 lakh rupees from the sale of fruits. He says that there is no problem in the sale of fruit.
Fruits produced are mainly consumed in Birgunj. He says that the traders of Birgunj have been sending the fruit produced by them as per the demand. Mahato said that some fruits were also sold in Kathmandu.
Mahato, who planted new plants in March last year, started selling them from October. The fruits have started ripening since October and have been continuously sending them to the market till now. "There is not much problem in the market for the sale of fruit, the produced fruit has already gone to the market, there was also a demand for fruit from Dharan, but it was not sent there but it was consumed in Birganj", he said.
Fruits are sold at 30 to 40 rupees per kg, farmer Mahato said. He said that about 1.3 million was spent on Mewakheti and about 5 million has been benefited so far. He said that since the process of fruiting and ripening is still going on, it will be sold by June.
He estimates that about 20-21 lakh worth of nuts will be sold by that time. This will also increase the income, he said. He has not only taken income from Mewakheti, he has given employment to 22 local people by providing wages based on work . He says that only the workers who do the work of harvesting, picking and packaging the fruit at different times from the planting of the fruit have received around 9 lakh wages.
He says that it will be spent mainly on compost fertilizer and seeds along with workers. He says that Mewakheti is not that difficult profession as it will start giving income gradually, but there are some problems as there will be no income for six months when investing in the beginning.
Mahato says that after harvesting the fruits of the plants planted now till June, vegetable farming will be done on that land . He says that even though the current plants will bear fruit in the next yam as well, they will bear small fruits and new plants should be planted next year. He has cultivated red lady fruits.
Mahato said that Kawasoti Municipality has provided a subsidy of up to three lakhs for Mewakheti . He had done melon farming on that land before doing fruit farming . Mahato said that there is good income from melons.
Mahato, who is also a ward member of Kawasoti municipality-17, has become an example for others in the agricultural profession of this area. Mahato, who spent seven years in Singapore and Saudi Arabia for employment, has also presented an example that if you work hard, you can get a good income.
"I don't find it difficult to work, I stayed abroad for a long time, now I am interested in agriculture here, the income is good, if I work hard, there is a possibility in Nepal too, it doesn't happen easily, something has to be done", he said.
