Road access boosts farm income in village

By Rajkumar Bhattarai, Khotang, Sept. 30: Ram Bahadur Kunwar of Yamkha, Khotang, who once planned to leave his village in search of better opportunities, now considers the village a prosperous place to live. 

He has even started encouraging others to return to their villages.

Kuwar, of Diprung Chuichumma Rural Municipality-1, Yamkha, currently earns around Rs. 1.4 million annually from orange farming and Rs. 500,000 from goat rearing.

He started commercial orange farming after roads reached the village, expecting easier access to markets. 

The venture has now become a major source of income. He also started raising goats to produce manure for his orange orchard and earns additional income by selling goats and bucks.

Kuwar runs the Namuna Agriculture and Livestock Farm and remains busy with farm work every day. 

As goat rearing requires daily care, he has employed one person to help with the work.