True to his name, Chaturman Tamang is clever, hardworking and tenacious. This 45-year-old farmer from Ryale VDC in Kabhre has become something of a self-made grass expert.

Agronomists at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) had all but given up hope and abandoned their experiment with different types of grass in leased forests. Chaturman knew nothing about grass, he was just an illiterate farmer. But after the experts had left he started tinkering around with the seeds. Today he's got a lush hillside of grass that would make any cow salivate. Indeed, Chaturman's experiment has become so successful Kabhre's dairy farmers are lining up at his doorstep to buy his seeds.

News of Chaturman's success reached NARC's head office in Khumaltar and the officials travelled to Kabhre to take a look. Indeed, Chaturman's grass is so suitable as cattle feed that it has improved milk yields in this district known for its dairy farmers. It has also stabilised slopes and prevented soil erosion.

NARC officials are now so pleased that they have turned Chaturman's farm into a model and have brought farmers from all over Nepal here on inspection tours. And in Ryale itself, Chaturman has become something of a celebrity. Others would have let the fame go to their heads, but not Chaturman, who is always up on the slopes tending to his 20-plus varieties of grass. The farmer is now known as Kabhre's grass man and is doing brisk business selling seeds and grass from his home base.

We ask Chaturman why he works so hard when so many around him laze away their days waiting for the government to come and help and he replies matter-of-factly. "Look at me, I just put in a little hard work and look at the thousands of people who benefited. That's what inspires me, that is my reward."

Alok Tumbahangphey in Kabhre