Gandaki. Surya Mohan Bastola, a farmer of Pokhara metropolis-28, Syangkhudi Tari, has earned Rs 275,000 from the sale of pepper saplings this year. He earned the income by selling one thousand one hundred saplings produced at Amrit Kunj Permaculture Organic Farm.

The saplings produced in the farm were purchased by farmers from Thuldhunga Community Forest Users’ Group at Pokhara metropolis-19, Puranchore, Machhapuchhre rural municipality and other people, Bastola said. According to him, pepper farming, which does not have much effect on insects and monkeys and hailstorms, will not only generate good income but also help in the conservation of forest and environment. The saplings purchased by the metropolis have been distributed to the farmers of this ward.

He said that he bought two saplings from Atre Guru of Bhandar Dhikka three and a half decades ago and planted pepper. Bastola said that more than one hundred trees are now yielding. “I have been selling pepper saplings at Rs 250 per sapling. We are preparing to produce two thousand saplings for the next year and earn more than five lakh rupees,” he said.

According to Bastola, the pepper plants planted at the base of more than one hundred green trees of different species including sal, mango, chilane, bitter gourd, kalki, phaledo, jackfruit growing on the steep slopes around the house have been continuously bearing fruit. He earns around one lakh to three lakh rupees annually from the sale of the produced. Traders come to their homes to buy dried pepper at Rs two thousand per kilogram.

Spread over an area of about 30 ropanis, various types of herbs, agarwood, red sandalwood, red banana, sitalachini, fruits and other plants have grown in the farm. He said that he has not received any facilities from the government level so far. Ripe pepper seeds are soaked in water for a day and mixed with cow dung and washed thoroughly and sown in the nursery bed. It grows in a month and is ready to be planted in one and a half months.

Pepper is propagated by grafting, budding, grafting, cuttings (roots and stems). In the month of January-February, two to three branches are cut from the maubot and planted. The grafts should be given the necessary shade and water. Pepper gives continuous production for 20 years after it starts bearing fruit. Pepper is a tropical crop, especially in warm, humid, climates and high rainfall. It can also be cultivated commercially in the warm and humid areas of the hills. Farming can be done up to 1,500 meters above sea level.

Black pepper is used in various dishes such as spices, Ayurvedic medicines, Kalluvali, Panniyur, Cheriyakaniyakakadan and Korimunda. It is used in digestion, appetite, cough treatment, respiratory and heart disease, as well as toothpaste and toothpowder. Among the most used varieties in the world, Velanakottha, Kothandan are considered to be of high quality, while Panniyur is a hybrid variety. If its feasibility is studied and planted in the community forest areas of Nepal, it can become a source of income for forest groups as well as displace foreign pepper imports.