Projects
Setivalley Integrated Organic Farm (SIOF)
Managed by Mr. Puspa Raj Poudel (the owner and manager of the farm) and Mr. Ramesh Nath Sharma (Chairman of SADP - Nepal), this farm is located 12 km northwest of Pokhara. Its elevation is about 3327 ft above seal level. The farm is spectacular and has a wonderful view. The land area is about 10 acres but can be extended up to 40 acres of size. SIOF is known as a demonstration farm of SADP - Nepal where various research works are being done. The ultimate goal of this farm is to develop a Research and Training Center and to become a model for organic farms all over Nepal.
Here are the activities that are presently taking place on the SIOF:
Mouja Ecological Organic Farm
The Mouja Ecological Organic farm is situated northwest of Pokhara City in a beautiful location. The area of land is almost 12 acres at present but can be extended up to 100 acres. Organic coffee will be the main crop in the farm. There will also be other activies such as permaculture, organic vegetables, and livestock. Mr. Dakshya Bahadur Gurung, a member of SADP - Nepal, is taking care of the farm.
Specific objectives:
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To establish and develop the organic coffee farm / orchard as a demonstrative site.
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To train the farmers in methods of organic input preparation and utilization.
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To train the farmers in organic coffee farming techniques.
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To eveluate the cost benefit analysis due to the adoption of organic coffee farming.
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To eveluate the farmers' perceptions of organic coffee farming.
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To disseminate organic coffee farming technologies among users.
The goal of this farm is to raise the standard of living of the Nepalese hill farmers through the expansion of organic coffee farming at the farmers' level.
Tibetan Refugees Community Farming (Jampling)
This proposed project is situated at Dhorphirdi VDC of Tanahun District. There are about 135 families of refugees in this settlement with about 850 populations. Almost all families of this settlement are skilled in handicraft production particularly in carpet production. But due to political situation and declining market, this business became paralyzed and therefore most of them remained unemployed and facing difficulties to earn something for their hand to mouth. Few organizations like Lodrik Welfare and some other individuals are supporting them in terms of physical facilities. But due to lack of income generating opportunities their livelihood has not improved much.
This settlement is also provided with about 80 hectares of land in seti river bank. Only 30% of the land is utilized properly for resident, school, handicraft (now closed), monastery, and some other activities, the rest remaining fallow. Some of them have even started vegetable farming but not in a systematic way and have therefore failed to take adequate benefit from this intervention also. Further, they tried to cultivate some food crops such as wheat, rice, and maize but the production was not satisfactory due to poor quality of land and lack of knowledge on farming.
The agricultural intervention proposed in this area should not only focus on production but also on improving soil fertility and maintaining it. It is only possible through ecosystem based farming rather than external input based agriculture. Under these circumstances, organic agriculture is the only way to utilize the proposed barren land, solve the farming problems of target groups and raise their income contributing to their livelihood. Therefore, this project aims to provide income generation options for 135 households of Tibetan Refugees in Dhorphirdi through development and promotion of organic vegetable production in the proposed land.
The project activities will be implemented in a holistic approach addressing soil management, nursery raising, fresh vegetable production and marketing. This area is almost linked by Prithvi Highway and is very close to Pokhara city. The high quality vegetable produced in this area can easily be marketed in Pokhara market so that they can earn something for their livelihood.
The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the livelihood of Tibetan refugees by improving the farming system and promotion of market-oriented production activities.
Objectives:
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To create rural employment opportunities for the Tibetan refugees to increase their household incomes.
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To improve family nutrition by particularly targeting the nutritional diversity.
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To develop self-sustainable agriculture systems replicable to other similar areas on the country.
Mount View Organic Farm (MVOF)
MVWF is situated south of Pokhara city in a beautiful location from where it can be looked whole Annapurna range and Pokhara Valley. This farm has 16 acres of land which is going to start from November. A wonderful fruit, Goji Berries, will be cultivated in this farm in trail basis. Other activities like organic vegetable, organic agro tourism will be carried out in this farm. Mr. Hari Raj Pokhrel will be in charge of this farm and is a member of the SADP-Nepal.
School Education Program
SADP-Nepal and Pragati English Boarding School have been agreed to bring organic agriculture through school. For the propagation of organic agriculture, it is essential to bring it to school students in the context of the Nepal. Most of the students are from the farming families, so they should know about importance of organic agriculture.
