Switching to marigold farming from paddy

By Hari Prasad Koirala ,Urlabari, Oct. 11: Sixty-four-year-old Rabindra Khadka of Chanditole in Kanepokhari Rural Municipality-7, Morang, has started to cultivate marigold, turning away from traditional paddy farming and growing marigolds.

A retired Nepali Army soldier, Khadka turned to farming after retirement. But whatever crop he planted, the yield failed to cover the costs. Taking advice from relatives and agricultural technicians, he decided to try marigold cultivation, hoping to discover a new opportunity in flower farming.

On the seven-and-a-half-katthas plot where paddy had traditionally been grown, rows of marigold plants are now growing vigorously. Khadka is the first farmer in his village to replace paddy with flowers.

The growing shortage of farm labour and the difficulty of mechanising small plots prompted him to make the switch.

“We have stopped keeping bullocks for farming. It is also difficult to take tractors into small plots. Farm labourers are hard to find in the village,” Khadka said.

He said semi-mechanisation had also contributed to the migration of agricultural workers. Although workers could still be found for transplanting paddy, finding people to build field bunds, uproot seedlings and carry harvested paddy to the threshing or storage area had become increasingly difficult.