My name is Mr. Praseed Thapa, 31, and I come from Nepal — a small yet beautiful landlocked Himalayan country located in South Asia that shares its territorial borders with India and China. I completed master degree in agriculture science from the University of Hohenheim, Germany in 2013. Professionally, I am a development worker with more than three years of working experience in agricultural projects providing rural poor farmers with technical expertise to enhance their socio-economic conditions. I am employed as an “Agriculture Coordinator” since May, 2015 in LI-BIRD Nepal for climate resilience and food security project.
Because agriculture in Nepal is rain-fed and sensitive to climate, the sector is highly vulnerable to global issue of climate change in comparison to other economic sectors. With more than 75 percent of the total labor force still dependent on agriculture, this sector contributes to around 38 percent of the national gross domestic product and is still of primary importance to the livelihood of millions.
Being already disaster-prone and the 30th most vulnerable country to flooding due to warming of the Himalayas, Nepal has experienced a steady rise in the occurrence of floods in the Terai region (downstream area). This repercussion has already impacted agricultural production significantly in the Terai region affecting the livelihoods of thousands of people. For instance, floods are contributing to the over-sedimentation of thousands of hectares of fertile fields.
These swathes of land are uncultivated, which directly challenges food security. However, when water recedes during the post-monsoon season (October to May), the same piece of land (riverbed) can fully be used for vegetable farming, providing an ample opportunity for landless and land-poor people when cultivated on leasehold basis that diversifies their livelihood options.
LeRiFa is a very simple, women-friendly, low external input, and cost effective climate change adaptation technology in which an unused piece of marginal sediment land (previously fertile land) is leased for a definite period of time and provided to landless and land-poor people for vegetable farming.
This technology has tremendous capacity to meet the food demand of the ever-increasing population. Additionally, this will help to enhance the socio-economic status of such people by increasing rural employment opportunities and income. Not only this, the beauty of this technology is that it does not require irrigation and use minimal amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Since crop vegetation and mulching cover the sand of riverbeds, there is a minimal chance of occurring wind erosion, and subsequently there will be less accumulation of dust particles in the air which contributes to the improvement of the local micro-climate.
This LeRiFa project is especially designed for the approximately fifty landless and land-poor Madhesi households of Haraiya Village Development Committee (VDC) of Bara district whose income is below $1.50 per person per day and food security status is below six months. It is located in the eastern part of Nepal and is about 280 km far from the capital city, Kathmandu.
The main reasons that motivate me to implement this project in Haraiya VDC are: a) higher poverty and unemployment rate, b) food security below six months, c) availability of tremendous amount of unused sediment land d) significant amount of landless and land-poor people residing nearby, and e) low vegetable consumption among community people.
After the successful completion of this project, the LeRiFa project beneficiaries will uplift their socio-economic status by creating rural employment opportunities and increasing income. This will also empower women by increasing their access to financial resources, which may result in reduction of domestic violence.
For the implementation of the project, beneficiaries will be organized into two “Leasehold Riverbed Farming Groups” comprising of 25 per group. The entire project support will be provided through groups only. The identified beneficiaries will be provided with the capacity building training package on sustainable agricultural practices like composting, seed selection, mulching and harvesting techniques. In order to strengthen them furthermore, exposure visits will be organized to other leasehold riverbed farming area for sharing the ideas. Such groups will be further provided with seeds, knapsack sprayers and other necessary tools at the initial stage.
During this period, these groups will also be linked to other development organizations working in the district and also coordinated with the VDC (grassroots level government body) and district and cluster based government agriculture offices. Not only this, a linkage with potential traders will also be established.
Until now, project location and prospective beneficiaries have been identified together with my colleague Ms. Anju Adhikari, District Technical Coordinator at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Nepal. Ms. Adhikari also comes from agriculture background with M.Sc. in Horticulture Science from Nepal and another M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from Germany.
With regard to the expenses of $5,000, it will be maximally used for the program cost. During the first quarter, $500 is used for the group formation and capacity building training package. Another $500 is used to conduct an exposure visit during the same quarter. For leasing riverbed, $1,000 (approximately the rate is $10/Katha/season; 1 Katha equals 336m2) is used.
Altogether, 100 Katha (3.36 hectare) will be leased and each beneficiary cultivates about 2 Katha of plot. During the planting season, input support of approximately $2,000 ($40/beneficiary) is used. Since the average revenue collection of vegetables from riverbed farming is approximately $100/Katha, each beneficiary will earn about $200/season from 2 Katha. This means that each beneficiary will earn about $200 by investing only $60 ($20 for 2 Katha land and $40 for inputs) which shows a high B: C ratio. However, the rest of the amount ($700) is used for the project management purpose that includes but not limited to reporting, accommodation, food and travel, etc. for project team. For the sustainability of the project, $300 will be deposited as seed money for the group.
Furthermore, from the revenue collected from the sale of vegetables during the project period, a certain amount ($5-10) will be collected per member and deposited into the group’s account. This makes the fund grow bigger and after the end of the project, it will be used as “revolving fund”. This fund will then be used to lend money to group members only who may need the support for buying inputs for the next season in case they don’t get the anticipated return due to damage of their crops from unexpected situations like severe insect, pest and disease damages, theft, etc. However, they will be charged a very minimal interest rate that could be between 5 and 10 % and will be finalized by the group members themselves.
This practice will be followed for the years to come. It should also go without saying that due to the higher B: C ratio per beneficiary (as calculated above) the project itself will be a sustainable. Because of involvement of all the members in mobilizing the revolving fund, the chances for the misuse of funds is completely nil.
Blogpost and picture submitted by Praseed Thapa (LI-BIRD Nepal) –praseed.thapa[at]gmail.com
Illustration courtesy: FORWARD, Nepal
The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.
This post is published as proposal #60 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.
The first selection of the winners will be based on the number of comments, likes and views each proposal gets.
As a reader, you can support this speaker’s entry:
- Leave a comment (question, suggestion,..) on this project in the comment field at the bottom of this page
- Support the post by clicking the “Like” button below (only possible for those with a WordPress.com account)
- Spread this post via your social media channels, using the hashtag: #GCARD3
Have a look at the other “YAP” proposals too!
As a donor, support young agripreneurs and sponsor this unique project. Check out the side column for our current sponsors.
“YAP” is part of the #GCARD3 process, the third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development.
blog.gfar.net 
I would like to recommend for your efficient effort for Nepalese farmer economic enhancement.
thank you Arjun Pande. Much thankful for your moral support….Cheers..
This is a very beautiful and sustainable initiative.i support it strongly.
https://blog.gfar.net/2016/03/01/yap-proposal-58-off-season-vegetable-farming-muhammad-usman-pakistan/
Muneeb Akhter,
I wish you all the best for your project idea too.
Thank you Arjun Pande and Nadia Ali for your support..Much appreciated…
One of the best climate change adaptation technologies. All the best
Thanks Asmita for your compliments…
Sounds great !!! Instead, it sounds sustainable and Eco-friendly approach for the upliftment of the marginalized community.
It sounds great!!!! Seems to be sustainable and Eco-friendly approach to uplift marginalized community.
Thank you Prativa….That is definitely a sustainable and eco friendly approach…
Sounds great! It could be the great effort for Eco-friendly and sustainable agriculture and for securing the livelihood of targeted community.
It is very interesting.. I support it strongly
Thank you Shankar Paudel 23…Your strong support means a lot for me…
Great initiative. Target groups are definately going to get benefitted
thanks ajay…
Good initiative for farmers .Good luck.
thanks mohun khatry
I support this contextual and constructive idea for landless farmers in Nepal. Thumbs up for your success
thanks for your nice compliments.,.. I wish I will succeed
Hello Praseed ji, great work done congratulations. Being a development worker since a decade would like to be in connection for further development.
Nice work
Dear Sunila Jee,
Namaskar and glad to see your message. It would be my pleasure to be in touch with you and know you for further development in case of this field. You can directly write me at my personal email Praseed.Thapa@gmail.com.
Wishing you a Happy Dipawali 2073.
Kind regards,
Praseed
Dear Sunila Jee,
Thank you for your compliment and I am glad to know that you are in the development field since a decade. It would be my pleasure to be in connection with you as well. My email id is Praseed.Thapa@gmail.com.
Please inbox me.
Kind regards,
Praseed
Its really efficient work for nepalese farmers.. All the best for your hardwork
Thank you Bhavisha….I really want to make changes in a society. Just needed are best wishes from you all. Cheers….
good initiation. all the best
Thank you Nima didi….
Initiative and pragmatic…….
Thank you Bikal Koirala for your feedback. Let me know if you want know more about the project.
Initiative and Pragmatic
It was really great and interesting work and learning for all the leader farmers and agriculture scientist to promotion.
thanks sanjib pariyar….
I have witnessed the success of riverbed farming in Deukhuri valley of Dang district with my own eyes. I work for a cooperative which has been implementing riverbed farming project since 2010 with around 1400 beneficiaries. Due to high turnover and benefit to landless, resource poor people it is being continued in seventh year, which is an excellent example for the success of this program.
Thank you Saugat and I want to replicate this sort of success to other places where there is a huge potential
This definitely is a good project. No doubt this gets success for uplifting the livelihoods of landless and pro poor.
thank you assaram gurung sir…..
This is a good idea to create jobs and reduce povertu
YES THIS WILL DEFINITELY HELP IN CREATING JOBS AND ULTIMATELY REDUCE POVERTY….THANKS FOR YOU FEEDBACK GEORGE
It is a great idea and if successfully carried out will create better opportunities for farmer and farming projects.
Sounds great and wish you success !!
thanks suman and kriti…:)
A very interesting and doable project to help landless farmers. Dry season riverbed farming is a tried and true technology for landless farmers in southern Nepal.
Yes Katharina….its a realistic and doable one…I hope I will achieve my goal …..
I’m impressed with the idea because it seems very simple, low cost, and beneficial for the community. My question is about the training package you mentioned. How often and when does the training occur? Is the training done by someone who lives within the community or outside the community?
Thank you all for your compliments and suggestions….Chelseajohnsonblog: Thank you for your query…This training is scheduled at the beginning (first quarter of the project) and will take place only once as this should be enough and the training will be intensive followed by practical session. The resource person will be experienced riverbed farmer together with myself….I hope I am able to answer with your query.
@all: let me know i you have some queries…I will gladly try to answer…Cheers…:)
A very interesting project to improve the socio-economic status of landless peasants. I’m really impressed with the concept, and look forward to happen this concept in real. congratulations of good work, and good luck for further border…
Thank you susma thapa….I hope I will gather enough support to make this project happen….
This is an great project …well planned … i wish you all the success for this project.
thank you Laxman Kunwar…I appreciate your feedback…
The Economy and Livelihood of Nepal is dominant by agriculture. Nepal government is always trying to increase and diversify the agricultural base, however implementation has yield back. This has significantly impacted in sustainability of millions of family.
Being a well informed citizen yourself (Praseed), gaining foreign knowledge and experience you always had a choice to stay abroad and work for self development. Firstly, it is highly admirable that you decided to get back to Nepal and work for socio-economic development for disadvantage group. This will not only make livelihood for those disadvantage group but also encourage and motivate others thousands of young people who are compiled to stay overseas.
The detailed you have outlined on above proposal in itself is very self explanatory. You have also highlighted the sustainability of the project which is another important aspect to continue the livelihood of the people. You should definitely get chance to show your potentiality which will create better opportunity to many people.
With high appreciation I wish you GOOD LUCK.
Thank you Dharma…I appreciate your feedback on my submitted proposal. Yes, I am destined to work for the poor people in uplifting their socio-economic status since long and now I am working towards it. That is the reason why I returned back studying abroad. I hope my idea will be selected. Looking more support from well wishers like you and all…Thanks once again…Praseed
Mind blowing
Thank you Rajan for your compliment….I wish to make this project a “mind blowing one” to those landless people of Haraiya VDC of Bara district. I hope you all will support me in getting into the first screening…
This is innovative game changing interventions. It addressed livelihoods of landless, poor and venerable farmers as well as for the transformation of the traditional farming systems into commercialized comparative market oriented production systems. I wish you all the best!!!
I am overwhelmed by the comments and feedback that I am receiving. @Prachanda: thank you for hitting nail on the head. That is fantastic feedback for me and this is what I want to do in the real ground. Keep me cheering up with your comments….Cheers…
Impressed with the idea………..good luck bro
Thank you Amit Khanal…I am happy that you liked my idea.
Very Informed detail project.
Best wishes, this indeed is much needed in micro level to uplift socio-economic standard of disadvantage people.
Dear Dinesh,
Thank you for going through the blog. For sure, the project will help to uplift socio-economic standard of disadvantaged people (Madhesh community in this case).
great and fruitful project for upliftment of rural poor people…I wish you all the best for you and your designed project. I” m ready to coordinate you in each and every steps if needed..All the best .
Thanks Sandeep for your willingness to help me for this proposed project. I will definitely be in touch with you if I am into the next round.
Nice project.. Good Luck brother.
Thanks Rabindra. I hope I will get into the next round.
hope the project help in increasing biodiversity and help in promoting climate smart technologies.
Being already a climate smart technology, I am sure this will do the same thing that you have mentioned in your comment. Thanks for your time in providing your precious comments.
Good proposal. it is the need of poor and landless farmers…. Also the need of our country for attaining food security.
Thank you Rabin,
This is definitely going to contribute for food security and help poor and landless farmers of Nepal too.
Small concept can have large impact especially in terms of food security prospective. This sounds more appropriate farming practice into the countries like Nepal where there is abundance labor, land of described type and always struggling for domestic supply of food. I hope you will implement this idea into the real land and hope this concept will help local farmers to sustain on waste land and increase livelihood of poor people. GOOD LUCK.
Dear Ganesh,
I am very much motivated to implement this project for those landless people and even want to replicate to other places, when resources are available. This not only will help in uplifting their socio-economic conditions but also is a powerful measures in adapting with the global issue of climate change. This sort of technology is much needed to be expanded to other locations too….Anyway, I salute for your comment…
Oh its a great Idea. i have been in some places of riverbed farming in Eastern Nepal. Mai khola and the sandy land after devastating Koshi flood, Koshi riverbank was turned into a barren land. But this concept of riverbed farming is quite fantastic there. Many farmer groups were engaged in the activity. I know many vegetables that grows in normal soil conditions can also be grown in riverbed. Oh its a very fantastatic ides.why I hadnot comete????I am late.HHAHAHAHAHa. I had some pictures related to this. Prasid ji, U had been documenting the adorable idea. Go on…..
Yes true indeed Bibek….and thank you for your marvelous comment Bibek..I am much thankful to you…
I have worked with this guys and he was wonderful experiences and have great knowledge on livelihood sector and impressed on his ideas how to uplift/betterment of disadvantage people through this innovative initiator on farming system of Nepal. Wish you all the very best !!
Krishna Sir: Thank you so much for your valuable words for me. It means a lot for me. I am speechless…
Sounds great! Best wishes Praseed
Thank you Rashmi Gaire for the feedback.
This surely is an impressive idea for providing the feeling of ownership to landless people and meeting the growing food demand in sustainable and eco-friendly …Best Wishes.
Thank you Sabal for exactly figuring out the intention of the project. Thank you for going through the blog.
It’s good idea for raising income of rural landless farmer….I think we also need to focus in marketing and ensure appropriate price of produced vegetables….so need to establish good relation with traders from production perod to ensure appropriate price to landless farmers…all the best bro for project……
Thank you Yagya raj pandeya, Yes I have also included in the proposal that there will be a linkage between traders and the farmers. They will help in reaching the commodities in market without any delay.
Your proposed beneficiaries” Landless” and project “River bed farming” are perfectly matched. In Nepal, streams and snow fed river flooding have damaged the fertile lands which can be reuse for such type of agriculture works. Community forest and Government forest have occupied some riverbeds. It will be supportive for your project, if it has a coordination and linkage with the Forest Department. Finally, Best Wishes !!!!
Yes its a perfect match for likning landless people and uncultivated riverbeds. Your idea to coordinate with them is also a good idea… However, this is not the case with the location where I have proposed this project. Nevertheless, I will definitely see and include this issue in the future…Thanks for your wonderful comment…
Great initiative…… Good luck Bro…
Thank you Subodh for your wish. I wish I am able to go into the next round.
Your initiative and approach towards landless farmers sounds great within this proposal. Wish you all the best for the success of the project.
Dear Karishma,
Thank you for your time in going through my blog and providing your feedback on it. I highly appreciate that. I hope I will get into the next round. 🙂
This is very good idea to cope with climate change issue. Keep up the hard work!!
Dear Manita,
Yes indeed. Its a very good idea to cope with the climate change issue. Thank you for your wish and would like to assure that I will definitely make it happen if I am selected. Cheers….
Thank you very much for nice concept. All looks good. I would like to suggest to Link the project with agriculture insurance too.
What an incredible idea Arun…Linking with agriculture insurance would also be better options for making those beneficiaries in a safe side. I have already jotted it down.
Really good concept……… It will really make a difference…. Good luck
Thanks Kapil….thank you for your view on the project.
Nepal is, doubtlessly, an agricultural country where more than 65% of economically active population are directly involve in agriculture for their livelihood. Although, there is a huge gap between marginalized farmers and commercial farmers, in terms of income generation and standard of living. Marginalized farmers do not have sufficient land for agriculture production, at the same time, they do not have any access to agriculture training and investment to start agriculture entrepreneurship. Development of LeRiFa project to support marginalized farmers for their livelihood enhancement with all your intent is mind blowing . Utilization of river bed through leasehold is a new concept. Promotion of cooperative based farming with proving basic needs for river bed farming and establishment of revolving fund through monthly saving to anticipate disaster prone cooperative member, definitely, will be a milestone in changing the socio-economic condition of farmers. Proper implementation of good proposal is also mandatory for the success and evident output in the society. All the best for successful implementation of this project.
Thank you for your comment which is already a mind blowing for me. Yes you are right that proper implementation of project is mandatory for the success and evident output. For this reason, I have come up to implement this project together with my colleague Ms. Anju Adhikari who is also a well know to this technology. Just to elaborate you more, I have had an experience of more than a year only in just promoting this riverbeds farming while I was in Nepaljung. So, I am pretty much sure that no stone will be left unturned in achieving the success for this LeRiFa project….
Self explanatory project proposal. I really enjoyed the idea and the way it is presented. I have seen this riverbed farming project turning the livelihoods of many poor people through the cultivation of vegetables, watermelon, muskmelon etc. This is very lucrative and innovative business and also is one of the climate smart technologies. I wish you all the best for getting into the next round. My best wishes for you and successful implementation of the project. Good luck.
Thank you Shiv Lal Sharma for your comment plus sharing your views on riverbed farming which you have seen through your own eyes. I want to make it happen for the people of Haraiya VDC now. As you have already mentioned, its lucrative and demanding business, there is no doubt on it. I hope your wishes will definitely let me into the second round. Cheers….
Being an agriculturalist and working in agriculture development in Nepal, I found huge riverbeds area are uncultivated. Therefore,I believe your idea on riverbed farming definitely results significant change in livelihood of marginal and landless farmers in Nepal. Best wishes !!
You have hit the nail on the head Bhav. That is what I actually wanted to do. Cultivate more unused riverbeds which will contribute to food security plus will enhance the livelihood of poor and vulnerable landless people. Thanks for your comment…
Thank you for your comment which is already a mind blowing for me. Yes you are right that proper implementation of project is mandatory for the success and evident output. For this reason, I have come up to implement this project together with my colleague Ms. Anju Adhikari who is also a well know to this technology. Just to elaborate you more, I have had an experience of more than a year only in just promoting this riverbeds farming while I was in Nepaljung. So, I am pretty much sure that no stone will be left unturned in achieving the success for this LeRiFa project….
Best of luck with your proposal. Looks like a good idea.
Thank you Gunjal Khanal….Yes that definitely looks a pretty much good idea. 🙂
Great job done!!!! Congratulations Prasid!!!! I wish you to achieve all your goals regarding your country!!!!
Thank you Astghik,
I am pretty much sure that I will be able to implement this project and achieve the desired goal in using those unused riverbeds that helps to contribute for food security and enhance the livelihood of poor and landless people. 🙂
project is quite good and all the aspect you mentioned will obviously metigate…go ahead very good initiation..
Dear Bipin,
Thanks for your encouraging words.
I believe this is a very good initiation. Really appreciate the effort. best wishes to the project team !
Dear Yuba Raj Subedi,
Thank you for going through the blog and coming up with the comment. Cheers………..
Dear Prasid; Very excellent framework, please select the verity of vegetable with comparison to high market value- depends upon price trend of regional market between October to May. Thank you.
Dear Yadu Kumar Uprety,
Thank you for coming with your suggestion. Yes, that will be my main motive to select varieties that fetch high price plus produce more. This will heavily benefit the mentioned beneficiaries. Best wishes, Praseed
What an extra-ordinary idea!!! I never thought of leasing such unused land from well-off people to those who are struggling to enhance their livelihood situation and don’t have any piece or who have less amount of land. As I also possess a piece of plot (nearly seven Katha) which is over-sedimented by flood in the same Haraiya VDC and at the moment, that plot is left barren. This idea has piqued my high interest and is compelling me to either lease them to landless people or just to see how the project goes and then later on cultivate on my own. Praseed, I wish you a huge success for implementing this project. Good luck.
Dear Prabesh Jaiswal,
Thank you for your comment. You are not only the one in Haraiya VDC holding significant land which is flooded but never used. There are plenty of other cases too. Imagine how would the situation be when all will cultivate and earn money. This is what I wanted to do. I hope to receive support from you. Cheers…
Good Initiation!!! Hope this project will be action oriented rather than process!!!! Good Luck Praseed Thapa
Good Initiation !! Hope this will be action oriented rather than process!! Good Luck Praseed
Dear Surya Prakash Rijal,
Thank you for your comment. I would like to assure you that this will be action oriented. Let me know if you want to know more regarding the project. I will gladly try to satisfy with my answer.
Though I don’t belong to agriculture sector in a way or other, don’t know why I am feeling as if I should encourage this idea…I am much impressed with the idea submitted by you. This will definitely contribute for attaining the food security and enhance the poor people livelihood..
Thank you Pratik for mentioning that even not involved in agriculture sector you are well attracted towards the project. This means that project is able to create some kind of motivation. Just I need is support from you all at the moment by pressing likes, comments and views. 🙂
This is nice concept to ensure food security on disaster prone area through river bed farming. I am a bit concerned about sustainability of this project after your project ends. What are your plans for sustainability of this project?
Dear Ankur Poudel,
Thank you for coming up with the query. For sustainability, I have already mentioned in project that the creation of revolving fund, high B:C ratio, linkages with other organizations, availability of large amount of suitable area for riverbeds, etc. will itself support for the sustainability. I hope I am able to answer for the query raised. I look forward to receiving some more queries if you have. I will gladly try to answer all of them.
Nice effort to address food security and a comprehensive utilization of stagnant manpower and unused land resource
Dear Simon Shrestha,
Thank you for your such a nice comment. Yes that will definitely address the food security and also utilize the available manpower plus unused land resource. Cheers….
best wishes for your valauable and appreciatrive works for neplese farmers
Thank you Arjun Chapagain for coming up with the comment.
best of luck bro, best wishes for your sucess ahead
Good concept Praseed. All the best.
Thank you Jeewan for the compliment. Cheers…..
It’s a great innovation to adapt with the circumstances created by global warming and climate change.
The farmers’ easily can adopt this technology as it is women friendly and does not need much technical mind. It’s a good idea.
Dear Bhawana Ghimire,
Thank you for your comment. This is one way in adapting with the climate change. As the poor farmers are most affected by the impact of climate change, this surely will be a great boon to them.
it is the best way to utilize the driest season with nice income for farmers in terai and river basin of Nepal
Dear Anil Babu Pokhrel,
Thank you for your compliment and there is no doubt that the project will be able to collect good return from those unused flooded land of river basin.
็Hi Praseed, I have some questions regarding your proposal
1. Do you make contract which farmers who borrow money?
2. What will u do if they do not pay/can not pay money back?
3. How you evaluate your success?
4. How long will this project going? Will it be sustainable in the future?
Sorry to asking many questions. Thanks in advance for your answer.
Dear Pang, Thank you so much for coming up with several questions. I should not be sorry for that. This lets me to make you my proposal clear in the issues raised. Please find my responses for your questions in the same order.
1) Actually there will be some sort of understanding while group is formed and code of conduct which will be made after group formation will define how to lend money. This is solely dependent on the members of group. As they know each other in a best way, I don’t think so this will be a big problem. Trust will be a key for this. But, when needed the committee of groups can also make a contract. For all of the process, members of group will do the task but not me.
2) This will be decided by groups themselves. This will be a kind of making them independent and the project will focus on decentralization process.
3) Success will be evaluated through the increased in income, access to other resources and cultivated area under riverbeds, etc.
4) This project is initially designed for a year only as of now. One post-monsoon season is enough to see the progress of the project. Regarding you query on sustainability of the project, I would say that this will be 100% sustainable due to revolving fund created, higher return from the investment, large amount of unused riverbeds available, good market, etc.
Pang, I hope I am able to answer you with your queries. Should you have further more queries, please ask me freely. I will gladly try to answer all of them. Best wishes, Praseed
Hi Praseed Dai,
I believe it is an excellent idea for climate change adaptation. I strongly support this project. Besides, I suggest graduation of the farmers’ group into co-operatives for sustainability of the intervention. Similarly, I doubt if there is mention of time period of the project or may be I am missing it.
yes this is one of the best technologies for farmers in adapting with climate change. Your idea in graduating the farmer’s group into cooperatives is worthy. I have noted it down. Regarding duration of the time period of the project, I reckon I have given the time frame in the proposal which is one year for the moment. That should be enough to harvest and see the profitability of the project for single season.
Nice to learn about the technology, I would love to talk more about it meeting you. All the best !!!
SUre Surya Sharma Bhatta… I will be glad in meeting you and talk more on this project. Let me know when you are free.
Great thought brother. Wish you all the best
Thank you Mahesh KC…I am flying to get such a wonderful comments and positive thoughts on the project that I have submitted.
good job, Praseed
Thank you dear KP for your compliment.
This is really good initiative to uplift livelihood of farmers with considerable input in food security … best wished for the success of the project.
Thank you Luna Gongal for your time in reviewing my blog and providing your feedback.
nice concept, wish you all the best.
thank you Mandira…
A promising measure to alleviate the poverty of landless and land poor households in terai region and contribution towards food security.
Thanks Bishal Shrestha. That definitely will contribute towards food security and help in alleviating the poverty of landless people. This will be much more than just an intervention to such people and also to country’s economy.
Sounds, great and Very excellent framework, please select the verity of vegetable with comparison to high market value.
Dear Narayan Bhusal,
Greetings…Thank you for your wonderful and motivating comment…I will definitely select the varieties of vegetables which have high market value and provides high return. Cheers….
It’s a really a sustainable project to the marginalized resource poor farmers of Nepal. This project not only improve the capacity of the farmers but also increased economic condition through rive belt farming. It will better to focused seasonal vegetables and fruits like watermelon in these river belt.
Dear Shankar Gaire,
Yes the major focus would be for high value vegetables plus fruits like watermelon, muskmelon, etc. There is no doubt that this sort of technologies will drastically enhance the economic condition of poor and landless people. If you have any queries regarding the project, please do let me know.
Dear praseed,I am very much impressed with the idea that you are proposing..All the best for you.
Much appreciated Bikash Adhikari for your positive compliment. I wish I could get into the next round and ultimately be able to implement this project on real ground. Need some more support from you all.
Nice idea. Best wishes for it’s successful implementation.
Thank you Vijaya Joshi for your compliment.
I hope targets group will surely be benefitted. Great initiatives brother. IYVA Nepal will be glad to collaborate with you.
Dear Rabin,
Thank you for the willingness of International Young Veterinary Association Nepal to join hands for the success of the project. I will gladly inform IYVA Nepal once the project gets approved or into the next round. Thanks once again.
Increasing the access of landless, marginalized and poor community to Riverbed farming is good initiative for improving of their livelihoods. Wish you all the best
Dear Suman Shrestha,
Yes that is definitely a good one Suman. This will be a boon to those landless farmers in changing their socio-economics status. Thank you for your comment.
Mesmerizing project idea for landless and land poor people. I have
always been enjoying your devoutness for working towards the poor
people. This is another good work proposed by you. Hats off and all
the very best. Keep up your good work.
Dear Ishwar Badu,
Thank you for your wonderful comment and your trust on me. Finger crossed. 😉
It will be a very good initiative….a good concept to help rural in generating some income…..good luck bro….
Dear Mahendra Bhandari,
Absolutely!! Thank you for your compliment…:)
seems good project for marginal farmers and people…….goods for biodiversity…..all the very best…..
Thank you Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai for your feedback.
Riverbed farming would definitely be an opportunity for landless farmers in a country like Nepal.
Good initiative, Praseed. Wish you luck ahead !!
Dear Barun Dev Acharya,
Yes this is one of the best technologies for landless farmers in a country like Nepal where there is abundant availability of riverbeds. Thank you for your compliment and wish. 🙂
It is the great concept brothern, best of luck.
Thank you Ganesh for your compliment. I am sure your wishes will take me to the next round.
Self explanatory and motivating idea…specially the concept of revolving fund is great..all d best
Thank you Gita GV, yes revolving fund will be one the main reasons that the project will be sustainable.
great project sir,,,Eco-friendly and utilization of uncultivated land properly in scientific way,,it is really sustainable.
Thanks Santosh for your feedback on the submitted project idea. There is no doubt that the project will be sustainable. Just needed at the moment is support from you all in getting me into the process.
nice concept, all the best
Thank you Mandira.
Reblogged this on example41365 and commented:
Support me please to get this project into the real ground…Thanks
The research idea is very good in context of Nepal and also helpful to uplift the socioeconomic status of farmers
Thank you Bikash Khanal on agreeing with my project idea. Yes that will undoubtedly help in uplifting the socio-economic status of poor and needy farmers.
it is very interesting . really very good work for farmer in nepal.
Thank you Shreedeep Wagle for your compliment.
looking very interesting. thumps up for ur good work.
This initiative needs to get implemented. I believe your academics and level of energy that you are putting in, this initiative should be definite success. All the best.
Thank you Kumar Paudel in your trust for me. It will be a definite success and I hope you all will also coordinate with me in this regard. Cheers
Great idea and good concept all the best for your innovative idea…………………………go ahead
Thank you Shankar Pant. As you have been employed by Government of Nepal and is also working for betterment of poor farmers, I hope you will also coordinate with this project if the idea is selected. I look forward for your support.
The best part of the project is, beneficiaries of this project are the one of the most marginalized community in the Nepal. I have seen many landless families living at the margin of rivers. But due to lack of technical knowledge, they never have been able to use such land economically and sustainably. I am pretty sure this project will help them by enhancing their knowledge and skill for their sustainable livelihood. All the best for a great deed. Thanks
Thank you for going through the blog and your impression on it. Yes there are plenty of such land which are not cultivated and have full potential to grow with vegetables and fruits like watermelon, muskmelon, etc. If my idea is selected, this will add a great value in implementing the project and enhancing the livelihoods of Madhesi people who also are marginalized.
Excellent project with wonderful innovative ideas for those marginalized farmer who living at the margin of river.
thank you naresh for your compliment
It is a pragmatic idea to uplift the livelihood of poor farmers though riverbeds farming. I wish you to be a winner and look forward to hearing the implementation of the project. Good luck.
Yes definitely Subash Ghimire, its a pragmatic and doable project and will also help in uplifting the livelihood of poor farmers. May your wish come true. Thanks
Really nice Idea, project looks very helpful for improving livelihood of landless farmers of Riverbasin. Good luck for your great achievement !!
Thank you Shanti didi, thank you for your nice compliment regarding the project I submitted.
Wow! its a great proposal and new idea! I wish you all the best Praseed!
Thank you Santosh Dai, 🙂
Subsistence farming is our background and Nepalese agriculture is more or less based on multi cropping , hope this kind of initiative in agriculture can make our agriculture more commercialized and more productive to sustain our livelihood in future
Thank you Ravi Karki for your nice elaboration on Nepal’s agriculture situation. I wish I could get into the next round and make possible to implement this project in real ground.
It’s outstanding concept to enhance food security and reduce poverty of targeted land less and land-poor madhesi people in sustainable way. The higher B:C ratio indicates that the proposed project has great concern about value for money.
Wish you all the best!
Thank you Melson for your wonderful comment. It’s actually aimed for increasing the socio-economic enhancement of poor farmers…
Good concept Praseed
which vegetables you are planning to grow?
Thanks Devendra for coming up with the query…The vegetables will be pointed gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, etc. 🙂
It is the best for farmers
Yes definitely. It is best for farmers….;)
Nice concept. But as you mention in the proposal, the technology required previous fertile place which is now ruin by flood, but you did not show that you checked the nutrient in land. If you choose riverbank, probably, the possibilities of land productivity is very low. The most important thing is to take the land in lease, If the land is the river bank, of course it will be government property and their is lot of formalities to get the land. Are you sure you can get the land in lease? There are private lands which were productive but now are barren due to flood, you can select such land for lease to achieve the goal of the project.
The beauty of the project is to make the sustainable impact on the villagers life. The revolving fund itself create opportunities for local people.
Dear Prakash,
Thank you for coming up with the queries. Yes you are right that I have mentioned that the land is fertile which is now overloaded with the sand particles. Before, the same piece of land used to give bumper production so one can easily say that there is no problem with the fertility of the soil and thus I did not go for fertility check either. To your next query, I would say that not all the lands that are near to riverbanks are public property. A significant amount of such lands are private property too, so for now only private land will be taken for this project and this won’t be much problem. However, I agree that leasing public lands may sometimes be troublesome. I hope I am able to satisfy you.
Should you have any further queries, please do let me know. I will gladly try to answer.
Hello Praseed, just finished reading your proposal. Your ideas for helping poor and marginalized farmers seems very practical and feasible .What is more compelling about this project is you also have a plan for making it sustainable unlike many other projects where farmers are benefited only for the duration of project. With your great idea, commitment and enthusiasm , I wish you good luck and hope to see project’s materialization very soon.
Thank you Anita for your nice comment. There is no doubt that during the course of project, any project can sustain. However, main challenges is to make it sustainable and project is success then only when it is sustainable. Thus I have thought in this line. Thanks…
Dear Prasid congratulations for your relevant proposal. I see this proposal to be very doable as I already have experiences of working in river bed farming in Terai region. This proposal attracts me in two ways firstly its technical aspect is very simple and can be implemented in rural areas and second it has addressed the growing demand of market for fresh vegetables. You have mentioned all the sustainable ways of activities ensuring its continuation in future, this is very strong part in the proposal. In my opinion, this project can benefit the landless peasants and can support them in uplifting their livelihood. I wish your good luck!
Thank you Roshan for your nice feedback. yes it is quite simple and doable by any unskilled labor force. Just what I need at the moment is more support from you all. Cheers..
Glad to know abt ur work keep it up broda
Thank you Rabin…..
This project will help the Nepalese in a very big way. I wish it starts as soon as possible.
Thanks Charles for your view and your best wishes…:)
In Global scenario food production need to be increased by 70% to feed 10 billion population between 2006 and 2050. In Nepalese context we need to increase production of agricultural products, increase per capita kcal consumption, minimize import of agricultural products, and change in structural diet consumption. All possible with this type of innovative idea. Good to see this Praseed dai.
Thank you Mohan for your nice background to link this project to fulfill the demand of ever increasing population. 🙂
A great idea. An essential and feasible project for Nepal. I hope it will encourage innovations in sustainable agriculture in Nepal and elsewhere.
Thank you Bipin…Yes this sort of project should definitely be replicated to other potential areas. Cheers…
great job mr thapa g
this project will ultimately benefits the communities who are prone to flood and landslides areas, landless and minimal food and nutrition secure areas. this project of minimal expense will bring large impact incommunities and would be a great learning for national level policy makers regarding programmes in flood affected areas. all the best for your effort.
Thank you Nirmal regmi. I expect the support from Government’s side too in helping me once it gets implemented in the field. I hope you will cooperate in this matter. 🙂
Its always good to see the positive movement in development sector even with a single step. Wish you all the best Prasid sir!
Thank you Mia. I always appreciate your feedback for me. Thanks…
Well done Praseed, keep it up!!!
Thank you Bibek Sapkota for your feedback and also for going through my blog and agreeing with my idea.
Riverbed vegetable farming is one of the impressive interventions to increase and improve the livelihoods of the marginal farmers specially landless farmers. I had also worked for promoting RbF in Eastern regions of Nepal. Undoubtedly, BC ratio is very high in RbF products, however, we cannot ensure the sustainability of these interventions based only in BC ration until and unless the marginal and landless farmers are exposed to uncertainty in the land availability which is also a dominant reason to drop RbF by farmers in past. It is because, most of the farmers are landless and they are either leasing in the land or depending on the land left by river. In both case, the land never belongs to them.So, in my view, if we can ensure the land availability than it can sustain. Rest are very nice Prasid. Cheers!
Thank you for your comment pankaj. Yes it may be the condition as you have raised but it may be different from place to place. The place where I have proposed this project there are plenty of unused land and the owner are not cultivating them. So it would be great opportunity for this project to be sustainable. I hope I am able to satisfy with your query.
Thank you for your time in going through my blog…Cheers…
Nice, then, thumps up!
best of luck dai, its really good idea
thank you santosh for your wish…:)
Very much needed, and pragmatic project with huge potential to help land-less/poor women to adapt to climate change and also improve their livelihoods through innovative farming practices in the land that we hardly care about. All the best Prasid and Anju.
thank you Dinesh Thapa for your compliment.
People in rural and marginalized communities in Nepal often lack a starter fund, enterpreneurship, and working skills -NOT the will. Projects like the proposed one would definitely provide a way forward by providing folks with things they lack the most. In the proposed project, I see an optimistic and a rational concept that has tremendous potential to extend beyond its initial goals and not just integrate Nepalese landless in economic mainstream, but also help Nepal to address and adapt to climate change. I strongly support the proposed initiative.
What a comment Sameer Khanal. You have also hit the nail on the head. Cheers for supporting my idea.
This is really a sustainable project to the marginalized poor farmers. I appreciate your effort. Good luck.
This is really a good approach for the farmers. Good initiation.
Thank you Deewakar ….
I like the way that the project is sustainable and helps in improving livelihood of landless ones! Wish you good luck brother!
Thank you Bhupendra Bhatta. I appreciate your comment.
Undoubtedly novel approach! I have witnessed the success of riverbed farming of cucurbits, and your project model sounds sustainable too. Use of otherwise barren land add another advantage to the landless farmers and most likely help to reduce the erosion. I am pretty sure that this is going to be a successful project. Good luck !
Thank you Dinesh Kafle for adding value to my submitted project….:)
Many Congratulations on your project and Its very impressive in a sustainable way where it can show impact on climate change, woman empowerment, poverty reduction and employment generation. I wish u very good luck Prasid.., All the best 🙂
Thank you Ram Thota for your compliment…:)
I would really appreciate the project as it would integrate climate change with socio-economy of the region mention above and with proper implementation would raise the economic status of the people along with awareness in climate change and its useful impact that we can derive.I would hope this project could be used in the areas with other natural calamities like prolonged period of drought with some modification in the cropping system so that in the long run it would,to some extent help in uplifting the economy of the country. Wish you all the best brother.
Thanks for your nice compliment Atit….:)
Great proposal by Mr. Praseed Thapa!! I feel very proud to have a friend like you. This project will definitely support and enhance the economic level to the poor Nepalese formers located at Haraiya VDC. It is really nice effort. Good luck for implementation!!!
Thank you Satish Kafley Dai. Your comment means a lot for me. 🙂
Great initiation brother….Livelihood improvement regarding pro-poor, marginalized and landless farmers through your project activities will be greatly effective…I hope the post-project impact to those farmers will not be temporary and your initiation will really made the livelihood improvement sustainable. Best of luck and keep ongoing with such innovative activities….
Thank you Ramesh…yes this will definitely be a sustainable one….
Dear fren, Good initiation and sustainable Project…gud luck fren
Thank you Bishal Lamichhane…:)
Nepal is in 4th position among 170 countries vulnerable to Climate change effect. The proposal has outline clear activities that will support community to be resilience to climate change effect using low cost technology and help to uplift the community livelihood status.This project has also goal to scale up the capacity of community to adapt from climate change effect.
Best of luck Praseed sir for your effort.
Thank you Lakpa Sir for your nice compliment….
Thanks both of you…
Great Idea. appreciated.
Good concept. Needy in our context.
Innovative idea and do sounds really great…..wish the targeted group would get much benefit from this project!! all the very best brother….
It seems this project would help in poverty alleviation n rise the living standards of landless farmers. Best wishes
good concept, let it be implemented, good luck!
The riverbed farming has proved life turner to the marginal farmers, specially bonded labor in western terai of Nepal. Furthermore, it also adds in reclamation of degraded lands summing up for the total cultivated area here in Nepal. More specifically, this kind of intervention might double the income of poor farmers in a season or two.
It’s an great idea
Great concept and sustainable approach for raising the incomes of marginal farmers, specially the landless and bonded labor.
I am glad you are realizing your goals my brother. I have had great experience with you as a team in Hohenheim and never for once doubted your potential and your goals towards food security and sustainable development. I am confident this opportunity will open a wider door for you to pull resources and achieve more. Congrats.
Great initiative , keep on !
Good projects, nice idea for landless people.
Renewing a once-used land is indeed an innovative concept. One of the greatest strength of this project is the sustainability. The only minor concern I have is, since the operation area is very close to the river, the use of chemical fertilizers (in case the farmers are tempted) should be monitored. Such use might flood the river with leaching of nutrients and other chemicals with repercussions on aquatic life. I hope you will focus on this issue during the training component of your project.
good luck 🙂
Good idea and I would like to support this project!
One more to say. I do believe that the capacity building of local people against climate change is really important as a bottom-up approach and this project will be helpful in that sense.
Dear Praseed,
All the best on this project! Congratulations, it was very interesting to read your proposal and I sincerely hope for its implementation 🙂
I found it great that you are including a connection to traders. This aspect gives the project a value chain approach, which also contributes to the sustainability of it all.
Keep on with the good work!
Very good initiative
I think, its really great notion to raise the living standard of marginalized people over there and the concept you have made is appreciable. Go ahead man and best of luck….
I think its great notion to raise the living standard of marginalized people over there. The concept you have made is appreciable and hoping that the intervention of such activities would benefit the needy one. Go ahead man and best of luck…
The Riverine system of Nepal are unique in their own ways, the narrow and deep running water bodies from the Himalayas and mid hills to the plains makes them unique. The challenge to main water in these system is huge as most non-replinsible natural resource “fresh water” dries up. Huge tract of river beds lay barren and potentials for agricultural activities. Melons are grown in commercial scale in some areas of plains but huge tract still remains unused with huge potentials for growth. This proposal is suitable for Nepal and any reuse of such barren lands have huge impact on food security and sovereignty of Nepal.
Great Idea. Appropriate technique to use marginalized land and support the community.
Great job.Best of luck!
Nice concept..Keep it up !
Sounds great for sustainable economic upliftment and food security of marginalised people. It seems good concept to scale up local people to adapt climate change effect.
Sounds great for sustainable economic upliftment and food security for marginalised landless people. It seems good concept to scale up marginalised farmers to adapt climate change effect.