Agricultural worker Dinesh Rana is literally reaping the benefits after learning new skills on how to farm more efficiently and sustainably.
The 24-year-old from Nepal’s Bheemdatta Municipality, had been working alongside his farmer father growing vegetables for many years.
Dinesh, who had never had the opportunity to receive formal training in farming and cultivation methods, was using traditional farming methods common in his community without realising the harm that some of them were doing to the land, local biodiversity, and even his own health - or understanding the benefits that alternative, modern methods could bring.
Everything changed in 2020 when Dinesh started training with NEEDS Nepal. He learned about the business and environmental benefits of diversifying into off-season vegetable cultivation, and how he could use his land more effectively by understanding the physiological and physical changes that occur in various life cycles of growing vegetables.
Dinesh also learned invaluable new lessons about insect infestation, organic farming techniques and different crop calendars and was shown how the use of organic compost and animal manures could reduce the negative impacts of chemical-based products on the land.
Dinesh is already putting his new knowledge into practice on his family’s farm and is seeing the benefits. He has decided to grow off-season vegetables commercially using a tunnel approach and has reduced his reliance on harmful pesticides in favour of organic approaches. His crops are growing well, and he knows that the new techniques and practices he has learned are reducing his impact on the land and proving that greener, more ecologically friendly methods have benefits that reach far beyond his family’s farm.
The Dakchyata Practical Partnership Pilot projects test new ways of involving employers and the private sector in the development and delivery of TVET training. The Pilots are supported through the British Council’s Dakchyata programme, funded by the European Union, which aims to increase the relevance, quality and suitability of TVET training in Nepal in Agriculture, Construction and Tourism.
“The training is very good for learners who want to learn new ideas and technical work", said Dinesh.