Capacity Building of Female Farmers’ Group through the Use of Bio-fertilizers in an Off-season Vegetable System in Shankapur, Nepal

People’s Awareness, a new female farmers’ group in Shankapur, Nepal, participated in a bio fertilizer and off-season vegetable production study as a capacity building tool for improving food security. Shankapur is a terraced, mid-hills village in the district of Syangja, a well-known (Citrus reticulata) ‘mandarin pocket’ designated by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). Farmers in Shankapur primarily grow mandarin for commercial markets, but the reliance on one crop leaves some families vulnerable to market fluctuations. Creating a farmers’ group can possibly empower female farmers and improve household and regional food security by increasing opportunities for educational trainings, improved agricultural techniques and technologies such as bio fertilizers.

Off-season vegetable production is one means to diversify farms from mandarin. Most People’s Awareness members were unfamiliar with growing off-season vegetables through monsoon season (June-August). The first objective of the study was to understand the challenges for members of People’s Awareness, and their satisfaction level of off-season cauliflower production through face to face interviews administered twice during the growing season. Participatory observation was also used as a way to collect supportive data from the field. The second objective was to determine the on-farm efficacy of growing off-season cauliflower, Brassica oleracea ‘Remi’. Cauliflower demonstration plots also tested two different types of bio fertilizer (1) water buffalo urine diluted with water and (2) jholmol (urine, manure, wood ash, Tagetes sp. and Artemisia) diluted with water. Jholmol biofertilizer efficacy is largely antidotal despite being promoted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nepal. Bio-fertilizer treatments were applied via foliar application; control plots received only water. Leaf samples were collected one week before harvest and analyzed for macro and micro nutrient content at New Mexico State University. Cauliflower heads were blanched and harvested from November 21 to December 3, 2015.

Interview results indicated that People’s Awareness members were satisfied with the amount of off-season cauliflower produced at the demonstration site; however, when they attempted to produce at their homes, some faced insect infestations (primarily cutworm from the Noctuidae family) and shading from mandarin trees. Leaf tissue samples indicate minor deficiencies in micronutrients, but there was no evidence that either biofertilizer treatment improved the fertility or yields of off-season cauliflower over untreated control plots. Still, based on these results, off-season vegetable production may be a viable option for improving food security and household income if Nepali female farmers can overcome insect and shade challenges.