My stay in Nepal was an
amazing experience,
and
I wish to thank SADP Nepalfor making this possible.
An especially nice part was that the Director,Mr.
Ramesh Nath Sharma, worked hard to integrate
experiences of Nepali culture into the general
organic farm visit. My trip started with a stay in
the home of Mr. Sharma, as little work was happening
on the farm as most of the laborers were celebrating
the Teej festival. I was able to celebrate this
festival along with Mr. Sharma's family, and thought
it a wonderful introduction to the Nepalese focus on
the family as the center of society, and the
wonderful Nepalesse music. After a quick tour of
Pokhara (I highly recommend the Mountain Museum),
Mr.
Sharma brought me to the farm, where I would spend
the bulk of my visit.
The Setti Valley Integrated Organic Farm (SIOF) is
both a working organic farm, and a demonstration and
experimentation station for SADP Nepal. It also
happens to be located in a setting strongly
reminiscent of early Renaissance paintings of the
Garden of Eden, with a few stunning mountains and
foothills of the Annapurna range thrown in!
I was most impressed with the spirit of
experimentation that pervades the farm, as the
owners, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Puspa Raj Paudel, work to
find a truly sustainable way to build a farm. Every
time I walked the fields with Mr. Sharma, he was
able to tell me of both future plans for that square
foot of land and previous experiments. I was perhaps
most enamoured of the vermi-compost operation, where
the manure collected from the cows and buffalo is
turned into the essential fertilizer for the
vegetable operation.
Though
the worms might get all the attention, the careful
labor that goes into this aspect of the farm, as
goes into all aspects of the operation, is a
wonderful example of thoughtfully executed organic
farming. I will leave Mr. Sharma to explain his
exact technique to the interested citizens of Nepal.
The results of this careful care are clearly obvious
in the fields, where two plots of cucumber, one with
and one without an initial boost of compost worked
into the soil, exhibit dramatically different growth
and fruit production. As a volunteer, I was able to
ask questions and participate fully in any aspect of
the operation that interested me. Unfortunately, my
labor was very small compared with the hired local
women,
but I truly appreciate the opportunity to learn
about a few of the different organic techniques in
use at SIOF). Working with the local village women
was also an eye opening experience of the challenges
lower caste people, and especially women, face in
Nepal. I hope that Mr. Sharma's plans to link
organic agriculture to community development are
able to succeed.
I was able to stay right on the farm, in the
temporary home of Puspa and Deepa Paudel. The views
on clear mornings of Machhapuchre were worth rising
early for, and I cannot imagine a lovelier setting
for working in the fields. My hosts were very
conscientious about giving me a private space for my
things and to sleep, and the house was comfortably
dry and surprisingly warm even during the late
monsoon. The best part, of course, was Deepa
Paudel's wonderful dal bhat, spiced additionally by
the knowledge the the majority of the food we ate
came directly from the farm. I purchased a book on
Nepalese cooking before I left in hopes of
re-creating some of those wonderful meals.
After leaving the SIOF,
I
had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Sharma to a
meeting in another district to discuss the start of
organic agriculture and possible agri-tourism
ventures in the village of Kyamin. Even in a day
that produced more rain than I have ever seen at one
time, over 50 farmers hiked to the meeting, to hear
Mr. Sharma speak about organic agriculture, and ask
enthusiastic questions about the possibilities. This
was perhaps one of the most inspiring parts of my
visit, as I witnessed local farmers interested in
switching to organic practices, and knew that there
were leaders like Mr. Sharma to help them in this
transition.
After
a brief tour of Kathmandu, guided by Mr. Sharma, I
ended my three weeks in Nepal, with the promise that
I would return as soon as I am able. I was very
impressed with the work that Mr. Sharma, SADP Nepal,
and all of the farmers and organizers that I met
were doing in Nepal. Even with the pressures of a
small farming in an oftentimes difficult
environment, Nepal is beginning to recognize the
necessity of organic agriculture. I wish everyone at
SADP all the best as they demonstrate organic
agriculture on their many farms, and hope I have the
chance to see the fruition of their many projects
when I return.
Miriam Bowling
Charlottesvile, VA
USA
miriam_bowling *at* hotmail *dot *com
and
I wish to thank SADP Nepalfor making this possible.
An especially nice part was that the Director,Mr.
Ramesh Nath Sharma, worked hard to integrate
experiences of Nepali culture into the general
organic farm visit. My trip started with a stay in
the home of Mr. Sharma, as little work was happening
on the farm as most of the laborers were celebrating
the Teej festival. I was able to celebrate this
festival along with Mr. Sharma's family, and thought
it a wonderful introduction to the Nepalese focus on
the family as the center of society, and the
wonderful Nepalesse music. After a quick tour of
Pokhara (I highly recommend the Mountain Museum),
Mr.
Sharma brought me to the farm, where I would spend
the bulk of my visit. 
I was most impressed with the spirit of
experimentation that pervades the farm, as the
owners, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Puspa Raj Paudel, work to
find a truly sustainable way to build a farm. Every
time I walked the fields with Mr. Sharma, he was
able to tell me of both future plans for that square
foot of land and previous experiments. I was perhaps
most enamoured of the vermi-compost operation, where
the manure collected from the cows and buffalo is
turned into the essential fertilizer for the
vegetable operation.
Though
the worms might get all the attention, the careful
labor that goes into this aspect of the farm, as
goes into all aspects of the operation, is a
wonderful example of thoughtfully executed organic
farming. I will leave Mr. Sharma to explain his
exact technique to the interested citizens of Nepal.
The results of this careful care are clearly obvious
in the fields, where two plots of cucumber, one with
and one without an initial boost of compost worked
into the soil, exhibit dramatically different growth
and fruit production. As a volunteer, I was able to
ask questions and participate fully in any aspect of
the operation that interested me. Unfortunately, my
labor was very small compared with the hired local
women,
but I truly appreciate the opportunity to learn
about a few of the different organic techniques in
use at SIOF). Working with the local village women
was also an eye opening experience of the challenges
lower caste people, and especially women, face in
Nepal. I hope that Mr. Sharma's plans to link
organic agriculture to community development are
able to succeed. 
I
had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Sharma to a
meeting in another district to discuss the start of
organic agriculture and possible agri-tourism
ventures in the village of Kyamin. Even in a day
that produced more rain than I have ever seen at one
time, over 50 farmers hiked to the meeting, to hear
Mr. Sharma speak about organic agriculture, and ask
enthusiastic questions about the possibilities. This
was perhaps one of the most inspiring parts of my
visit, as I witnessed local farmers interested in
switching to organic practices, and knew that there
were leaders like Mr. Sharma to help them in this
transition. 
After
a brief tour of Kathmandu, guided by Mr. Sharma, I
ended my three weeks in Nepal, with the promise that
I would return as soon as I am able. I was very
impressed with the work that Mr. Sharma, SADP Nepal,
and all of the farmers and organizers that I met
were doing in Nepal. Even with the pressures of a
small farming in an oftentimes difficult
environment, Nepal is beginning to recognize the
necessity of organic agriculture. I wish everyone at
SADP all the best as they demonstrate organic
agriculture on their many farms, and hope I have the
chance to see the fruition of their many projects
when I return. 