By Sanad Adhikari, CHITWAN:- At a time when many Nepali youths are leaving the country to find jobs abroad, a youth in Chitwan district has gained economic prosperity by working hard on his own land.
Teacher turned farmer Nabin Kumar Shrestha of Samanpur in Khairahani Municipality–10 has made a decent income from commercial chili farming full-time. He earns hundreds of thousands a year from commercial chili farming.
He has worked for more than two decades to modernize the traditional practice of farming and has now turned it into a proper business venture. Shrestha has also created jobs for some 12 young people and local residents from his locality and provides more than Rs 1 million a year on workers’ wages. “I have been able to provide jobs to other people in my village too. We benefit together,” he shared.
Shrestha is now recognized as one of the successful farmers in the district and is also financially independent through his own efforts.
He shared that he decided to quit his teaching career after being engaged for six years realizing that farming offered him more satisfaction than a teacher’s limited salary and the constraints of the job.
As a part-time farmer, Shrestha began growing vegetables in 1999 and is fully focused on commercial chili farming since 2015. He currently grows “Bullet” and long varieties of chili on 25 Kattha of land. “In the past, I had to carry vegetables on a bicycle to sell them. At present, traders come directly to the farm to buy chilies and vegetables. The time has changed,” Shrestha explained.
Imported chili from India dominates the Nepali market but Shrestha’s production has built its own reputation. He said locally grown chilies are fresher and higher quality than the imported ones and also they get a better price.
For him, there is no market crisis to sell his products. The chilies are sold in Chitwan and Kathmandu. “Other farmers don’t grow spicy chili here. So I never had trouble selling my products,” he shared.
Last year, he made good income by selling a surplus of ripened chilies. Chili farming is a year-round and grows easily as a low-maintenance crop,” Shrestha stated.
Shrestha has made impressive earnings from chili farming. Last year, he sold chilies worth Rs 2.3 million and made a net profit of Rs 1.2 million by reducing the costs of fertilizer, seeds and wages.
Using the income from his vegetable farming, Shrestha has expanded his business further. He now runs Nabin Agro Center and Rice and Mustard Mill. From his company, Shrestha provides fertilizer, seeds, and suggestions to the local farmers as well.
Shrestha has become a source of inspiration for many youths who feel they should leave Nepal to find job opportunities abroad. “If people are willing to work hard and love their land, they can earn more at home than abroad,” Nabin shared. RSS