Dhanusha farmer treasures news clippings of Gorkhapatra on his work

By Bijaya Kumar Sah,Dhalkewar, May 6: Fifty-six-year-old Ram Pukar Yadav of Ganeshman Charnath Municipality-9, Baramajhiya of Dhanusha, who is known to the village as a model farmer with the production of earthworm manure, has carefully kept the news cuttings in photo frames published about his stories in the Gorkhapatra Daily.

Yadav has decorated all his new stories published in the Daily about himself and his hardship in wooden frames.

Everyone visiting his manure farm in the village can see some wooden-framed news cuttings published two years ago in Gorkhapatra. The titles of the news headlines read as "Farmers' attraction towards organic fertilizers is increasing; Ram Pukar's composting and alternative structure of chemical fertilizers became exemplary." 

All his new cuttings were decorated in a photo frame and hung them up in his manure farm. 

Ram Pukar said that it was a matter of pride that the work of an ordinary farmer like him was published in a historical newspaper like Gorkhapatra. He shows the news in the photo frames to everyone visiting his farm for buying the manure. Ram Pukar said, "I have carefully put the news printed in the newspaper in photo frame because it is a certificate of honour for me to see my work in Gorkhapatra. It has added more enthusiasm towards work."

He recalled that he had started production of earthworm fertiliser (pesticide-free manure) four years ago and has been producing it commercially for the last two years. 

He has also been getting a sufficient income from the manure production. Along with this, he has made himself known as a model farmer in the village by using earthworm manure in his fields.

Four years ago, with the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the community improvement centre Dhanusha conducted training on making earthworm manure in Birendra Bazar of Ganeshman Charnath Municipality. 

Ram Pukar learned the method of making worm manure from the same training. He started fertilizer production with the help of seven kilos of earthworms and equipment provided free of cost by the organisers of the training.

In the first year, the use of self-produced worm manure, instead of chemical fertilizers, increased production. "I used only vermicompost in my two bighas of land for paddy, wheat, sugarcane and vegetable cultivation. After seeing that, other farmers here started coming to buy earthworm manure for their farms," said Ram Pukar. 

He said that after the farmers of the village and neighbouring villages started using earthworm manure, with the increase in the sale of manure, they started producing manure by registering 'Saurabh Earthworm Manure Industry'.

Initially, he started producing fertilizer from one Vermi Bed, now he is producing 48 quintals of fertiliser annually from 12 Vermi Beds. 

Despite that, the demand for manure could not be met as per the demand, he said. 

He said, "I am thinking of increasing the number of Vermi Beds to produce fertiliser after the demand for vermicompost increased. In the early days, it was a problem to sell the produced fertiliser, but now that many people know its importance, farmers not only from the village but also from far away come here to buy fertiliser. He said that fertiliser is sold at Rs. 30 to Rs. 35 per kg.