Kathmandu. Arjun Chandravanshi of Barahakshetra Municipality-9, Sri Lanka Tappu, has enrolled his four sons in agriculture. He has been cultivating tomatoes and vegetables for nearly two decades, making agriculture the main source of income for his family.

Vegetables like tomato, cabbage, beans are grown in his farm throughout the year. Arjun’s four sons Ram Vilas, Laxman, Shriram and Jadulal Chandravanshi are engaged in farming like their father. “My sons used to say that they would go abroad, but I did not allow them to go abroad saying that I would give them Rs 50,000 in Nepal. Now all the sons can earn lakhs of rupees by staying in Nepal,” said Arjun.

He said that instead of going abroad and suffering, he put his four sons into agriculture with the thought that they could earn a good income by working hard in Nepal. Earlier, there was no road and transport facility. The land done on two or four katthas had to be carried on a head to the market. Now traders come to the farm with vehicles.

The Chandravanshi family has been cultivating tomatoes on five bighas of land at present. They have also planted seasonal vegetables in some lands. More than 50 workers work in Arjun’s farm from November to February-March, the main season of tomato. Arjun said that even in the off-season, 25 daily wage workers are employed in the farm.

He said that last year, the price of tomatoes was good and due to the support of the weather, the business of one crore rupees was done. “Let’s see how it will be this year. Even if the price is not good, we can earn up to Rs 60 lakh annually after deducting all expenses,” he said.

According to Arjun’s son Shriram, the price of tomatoes varies according to the demand and production of the market. Normally, it is sold at Rs 30 to Rs 50 per kg and sometimes Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. He said that sometimes they have to sell at Rs 5 per kg.

He said that the price of tomatoes will be good from November to April. “Tomatoes worth more than three lakh rupees are sold in a single day at a good price,” said Shreer, “Seasonal vegetables like beans, cucumber, cabbage are also sold according to the season.” ‘

Arjun’s second son, Laxman, has returned to Nepal after living in Malaysia for four years and is now helping his father in farming. “The income in Nepal is better than abroad. Farming is our ancestral profession. In the beginning, we used to cultivate vegetables like potato, cabbage and other vegetables. Later, after we started earning good income from tomato farming, its area was expanded,” he said.

Laxman said that he is doing farming by taking information from social media rather than formal training. “We are doing commercial farming by looking at social media,” he said. He said that out of about 12 bighas of land, tomatoes and other vegetables are being cultivated on five bighas. The rest of the land is under maize and paddy. “There is no problem of a market for selling the produced tomatoes. We don’t have to go looking for a market. Traders come to the fields themselves. When we buy from here, we give them less than the market price,” Laxman said.

Traders from Dhankuta, Dharan, Itahari, Gaighat, Rajbiraj, Jhapa and other places come to the fields to buy tomatoes. He said that the investment in this farming is increasing and there is also a problem. He said that according to the investment, the production will be good and there will be no loss.

“Now all the family members have got employment from this farming and they have been able to provide employment to others as well,” he said, adding that tomato is cultivated in about 300 bighas of land in Sri Lanka Tappu located in Barahakshetra Municipality-6 and 9 alone. Most of the farmers have been cultivating tomatoes along with other seasonal and off-season vegetables.

Vegetable farming is done on 8,153 hectares of land in Sunsari, said Information Officer at Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Sunsari, Prabin Lal Shrestha.

Ramesh Karki, mayor of Baraha Kshetra Municipality, said that most of the farmers in the municipality have turned to commercial vegetable farming as the production of vegetables like tomato, cabbage and beans is good.

90 percent of the locals of Sri Lanka Tappu are focused on agriculture and vegetable production. Sri Lanka Tappu is a well-known area for vegetable farming. Mayor Karki said that the municipality has been providing subsidies on fertilizers, seeds and other materials to encourage local farmers to increase their production.