50-year-old Lal Bahadur Gharti, the ward chairman of Bangad Kupinde Municipality-12 of the district and a resident of Chaur, produced 130 quintals of Barkhe potatoes on 8 plants of land this year.
He earned 450,000 by selling 90 quintals of potatoes at the rate of 45 rupees. He has prepared to leave other crops on his land and plant only potatoes this year.
Similarly, 48-year-old Purna Bahadur Pun grew 100 quintals of Barkhe potatoes on 10 ropani land and produced 110 quintals last year. They kept 10 quintals of seeds and sold 100 quintals of potatoes worth more than 5 lakhs. He has been supporting a family of 6 easily with the money he sold Barkhe potatoes and he has got a job at home.
Since now is the time to plant Barkhe potatoes, he has planned to expand to some more plantation land this year. After Bagchaur municipality 11/12 Bafukhola, 4 Shivarath, Chaur village of Bangad Kupinde municipality 12 Nigalchula is known as a pocket area for Barkhe potato production.
The locals of Chaur village, which is a settlement of 75 families, have been cultivating Barkhe potatoes in 250 to 300 plants. Potatoes worth 2.25 million have been exported from Chaur village in Nigalchula this year. All the potatoes exported from the settlement went to Surkhet.
Farmers of Chaur village in Galchula have been farming potatoes for daily vegetables to raise the cost of buying salt and oil, but they have only started doing business after a decade, said Lal Bahadur Gharti. He informed that he was easily supporting his family of 6 by cultivating commercial potatoes and got employment from this.
"After starting business, now every house is selling 60 to 100 quintals of potatoes," he said, "even though Nigalchula is a poor slum, all farmers have been able to earn a living from commercially produced potatoes."
Local Min Bahadur Budha, who has been growing dry potatoes for almost two decades, said that in the settlement at an altitude of about 2700 meters, the production of food crops is low during the rainy season, and even if it is, it is destroyed due to storms.
He informed that he earned 5 lakhs this year by growing potatoes on 10 plants of land. "In the past, I always had to go to India to meet household expenses. After taking up potato farming commercially, I have not had to go anywhere for a few years now, it has become easier for household expenses and other expenses. He said that he did not have to take a loan from the moneylender for medical treatment. He complains that even though a lot of potatoes are produced in a single settlement of the ward, the attention of the relevant agencies has not yet reached them.
Local Ran Bahadur Pun said that although they have started commercial potato farming, all the farmers in the settlement are cultivating potatoes in the traditional way and have not yet received technical support from the Agricultural Development Office Salyan. He informed that the compulsion to migrate to India in search of employment has come to an end in recent times through potato farming.
According to him, with the money from the sale of potatoes, the locals have not only spent on their houses, but some have also invested in land. Since many potatoes are being produced in the same settlement, he has requested the relevant authorities to provide technical and other equipment support to the farmers.
Iswari Narayan Gharti, information officer of the Agricultural Development Office Salyan, said that although he had heard that there is Barkhe potato cultivation in Nigalchula, there is no information about it yet. He informed that the office could not help the local farmers due to lack of information. "In the coming days, we will take initiatives to hold programs that will encourage the farmers," he said. He says that 260 million Barkhe potatoes are exported from the district every year.
