KATHMANDU: Out of 15 local levels in Jhapa district, Kamal Rural Municipality as the first local level to do so, has procured a lab for a soil test.

Mahendra Bohora, the Chief of the Department of Agriculture of the Municipality, informed that the lab has been established to address the difficulty the farmers in the area have been facing in the absence of such a lab.

“Although the main source of income for most of the villagers is farming, they have not been able to reap the expected benefits due to lack of soil test,” Bohora told Khabarhub, “The haphazard use of fertilizers and the nutrients without testing the soil could reduce the production and the fertility of the soil as well.”

He hoped that the soil lab established in the municipality would surely benefit the farmers there.

Kamal Rural Municipality has established the lab at the cost of 450 thousand rupees.

The lab to conduct 14 different tests

Prem Pokhrel, an agricultural technician in the rural municipality informed that the lab would identify the status of 14 nutrients in the soil.

He added that the municipality would recommend the farmers to sow essential nutrients only after analyzing the condition of the soil.

With the operation of the lab, dozens of farmers have been rushing to get their soil tested. The rural municipality has also prepared manpower by training its own technicians.

Pokhrel told ahead that the farmers have been informed about the operation of the lab and the process of collecting samples. In addition to it, the authority has been giving necessary suggestions and the village technicians are deployed to offer technical help to the farmers as per their need.

Emphasis on organic production

Menuka Kafle, the Mayor of Kamal Rural Municipality told Khabarhub that the municipality aims to make the village self-reliant in organic production, and is also working on reducing the use of pesticides. For this, the farmers have been giving training on organic manure and pesticide production and the farmers have also produced it on their own.

Currently, there are various zones declared as pockets for the production of vegetables, paddy and maize.

Deputy Mayor of Benu Prasad Shiwakoti told that various pocket programs have been launched to encourage farmers towards integrated farming. He expected the programs to help in economic, technical, and commercial promotion.

He informed that it has helped the farmers by operating a sales outlet in Kerkha Bazaar of the village to operate a separate market for organic production.