 SAMIR JUNG THAPA |
The villagers started vegetable farming 15 years ago. District Agriculture Office (DAO) records show these villages produce about 42,964 metric tonnes of vegetables during winter and 23,368 metric tonnes in summer.
The villagers traditionally farmed potatoes, cauliflowers and cabbages. Since they switched to green beans, there has been no looking back, and their living standards have gone up noticeably.
According to DAO chief Laxman Poudel, a migrant from Dhading district introduced the beans to the village some years ago. Since they found it profitable, other villagers followed suit in cultivating it. Now, green beans are cultivated throughout the VDC. Indeed, the DAO has declared Debitar a 'green beans pocket area'.
The villagers have also set up Niureni Fresh Vegetable and Fruits Production Cooperative. Chitra Bahadur Magar, chair of the cooperative, says green beans have transformed their lives. He no longer has to struggle to make ends meet. He even manages to send his children to school, and has replaced his thatched roof with tin recently. "Some farmers have even managed to build cement houses," he says. According to him, all bean farmers have tin-roofed houses at the very least. Even Chepang farmers of neighbouring Siddika village are taking up green bean cultivation.
Green beans are cultivated on 75 per cent (or 200 hectares) of the arable land of the VDC, and 1,500 households benefit from its cultivation, which yields about 12 metric tonnes per hectare.
