Teacher quits job and takes to kiwi cultivation

By Our Correspondent,Dadeldhura, Dec. 12: A local has quit his teaching job and is cultivating kiwi fruit commercially in the middle of the dense forests of Mahabharat Mountains.

Laxman Thapa Magar, a local in Lamituda of Aalital Rural Municipality-2, has quit his teaching profession and is cultivating kiwi fruit.

He is cultivating kiwi on his own land in the village. By cultivating kiwi in the dense forests of Mahabharat Mountains, a remote area, he is earning more than Rs. 1 million annually. 

He expressed his hope that his income will increase further in the coming years.

Registering Dhruba Agricultural Firm, he is cultivating kiwi commercially on about 15 ropanies of land. 

As he also grows kiwi saplings, the agricultural firm can also be a learning centre for those interested in kiwi farming.

Laxman Thapa, who was a teacher from 2061 B.S. to 2073 B.S., was attracted to kiwi cultivation after hearing discussions about kiwi farming in the media at the time.

He said that he started kiwi farming by bringing 110 kiwi saplings from Dolakha in 2070 B.S. 

The area of his farm has now reached more than 15 ropanis. 

In 2073 B.S., around 3.5 quintals of kiwi was produced in his farm for the first time, and currently an average of 70 to 75 quintals of kiwi is being produced annually.

He sold kiwi at a rate of Rs. 500 per kilogram in the first year. He said that despite the decline in prices in recent years, the production has been high.

Since 2077 B.S., Thapa has been producing kiwi saplings in a tunnel house by building a nursery in his farm. 

He said that he produces an estimated 4,000 saplings of kiwi every year and sells them in various districts of Sudurpashchim Province.

Kiwi production was started in the hilly districts of the Sudurpashchim Province only about a decade ago. Farmers here are gradually getting attracted towards kiwi farming.

Thapa said that he has been supplying kiwi fruits to Kathmandu. 

He said that there is no need to worry about transportation after the road reaches the farm, which is 6 kilometers away from Sahukharka of Ganyapadhura Rural Municipality-1 on the Mahakali Highway connecting Kailali and Dadeldhura.