Dodhara Chandani (Kanchanpur), 29 Bhadra (14 Sep): Urmila Dagaura of Bedkot Municipality-7 Mandirpur has proved that everything is possible with hard work and courage. Three decades ago, she started vegetable farming on a barren plot of land, and from vegetable farming, she has succeeded in studying higher education to his son Ravin and daughter Ravina. She is providing education her son Ravin to be a software engineer in Chandigarh, India. Daughter Raveena is studying MBBS in Chitwan Medical College. “We have raised our children’s education expenses by earning income from vegetable farming,” said Urmila, “we started farming since 2052.” In the year 2052, she cultivated vegetables on one block of land and bought two blocks of land two years later with the income from vegetable farming. After that, she said, she expanded vegetable farming by adding land to earn income. Her husband Ram Bahadur has great support in her hard work. Along with vegetable farming, her husband has run a grocery store in the local Lalpur market. The store sells vegetables produced in its own farm. “We have been increasing the land by growing vegetables and shops, now we have 15 kattha land”, said Urmila, “now we have cultivated vegetables on 15 kattha land and we are getting a satisfactory income from it.” She said that Rs. 6 million has been spent so far to study her daughter Ravina as a doctor. She says that all the expenses are met from vegetable farming. She said that she can save Rs. 200,000 per month in a season. A few years after starting vegetable farming, the Udaya Dev Cooperative of Mahendranagar went to the village and formed a group of women who are doing business. She joined the Tulsi Udaya Dev Women’s Center formed by the cooperative. It is her experience that after the government provided free technical support to the women who are engaged in vegetable farming in the said group, they got help in farming. She said that there has been an increase in vegetable production after the cooperation of the cooperative. “We have been farming traditionally”, she said, “Cooperatives have given us a lot of knowledge, which has benefited us in production.” There are 16 women in this group. According to Ganesh Bahadur Chand, Chief Executive Officer of Udaya Dev Cooperative, the cooperative has expanded branches to bring the products of the Terai to the hills and the products of the mountains to the Terai. –
