South Asian farmers and community leaders exchange knowledge on sustainable agriculture during Nepal visit

Bio-gas unit component

The third day of the SATNET Intraregional Visit for Smallholder Value Chain Actors in South Asia, currently underway in Nepal, commenced with a visit to Majgaun village in Rupandehi district. A revolving fund established for the village community by an iDE project has enabled many households to set up low-cost bio-gas generation units which utilize cow dung and human excreta. These units have brought many benefits such as smoke-free cooking, greater cleanliness and better health conditions. The slurry from the bio-gas digesters is also applied in farmers’ fields as manure, resulting in cost saving on account of the reduced application of chemical fertilizers. Some of the visitors shared their experience of using bio-gas to run water pumps in their countries, and of establishing larger-scale, community-owned bio-gas units. Apart from bio-gas, the revolving fund has also been utilized to promote Treadle Pumps for irrigation purposes. 

Butwal fruit and vegetable wholesale market

In the second half of the day, the group visited a fruit and vegetable wholesale market at Butwal on the way to the hill town of Tansen in Palpa district. This is the second largest wholesale market in Nepal and an important agro-trading centre established as a public private partnership with financial contributions from the government, the local municipality and traders. The group interacted with the market’s senior management and learnt how it has grown over time and how it functions effectively including through linkages with village level Marketing and Planning Committees (MPCs) which act as collection points for farmers’ produce. 

During the day, the participants also visited nearby Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha and a famous UNESCO World Heritage site.