The culture of agriculture

SURYA ADHIKARI

No one inspired me, I inspired myself. I taught myself about soil nutrients. My neighbours thought I was mad because I used to go into town to collect the hair from barbershops and bones from slaughter houses, grind and spread them out as fertiliser. I learnt as I went along.

Once, in Gulmi I saw they were growing coffee. I brought back 12 bushes and today Begnas Coffee is famous, we produce 22 tons of beans a year. But it wasn't easy, during the 1990 democracy movement, the highways was closed for more than a week and all my chicken died on the way to market. I lost Rs 100,000 and went bankrupt. But out of adversity comes opportunity. I met the specialists from LI-BIRD and they taught me about sustainable agriculture and crop biodiversity.

I have learnt that the most important thing is to follow nature's rules. You can't go wrong if you do that. You have to protect the soil, that is the most important thing. This doesn't just mean stopping erosion, it means not poisoning it with chemicals, it means replenishing the soil's natural nutrients. Increasing food production is not going to be enough, we have to protect our soil and the agriculture biodiversity that god has bestowed on this land. We have to protect the soil, air and water cycle.

This is not an earth-changing revolution, we just want to make sure our seeds, plants and herbs don't disappear. Everything is interconnected, we have to learn to live with the land. We have to protect the 16 local varieties of rice that are suited for the soil and the micro-climate around here. We have 12 different types of millet, 12 types of yams.

Just like we set aside areas for national parks, we must protect this watershed that feeds into Rupa and Begnas as an agriculture conservation region. There is still lots to do, I want to set up an agricultural college here so that educated people start respecting the land and the people who work on it.We need to be able to feed our growing population. For this, you have to protect the land and those who work on it.

Surya Adhikari (pictured) is a farmer in Begnas village in Kaski, a pioneer of coffee production and the home garden concept of crop biodiversity conservation.

Source:www.nepalitimes.com.np