Ilam. Hari Dhakal of Maijogmai Rural Municipality-3 has expanded farming after receiving a tractor with 75 percent subsidy. Tulsi Chapagain of Maijogmai-5 is also busy in the field today after getting rid of the hassle of digging the fields.

Chandra Bhandari of Pramejung of the same municipality-1 pledged to become professional if he gets a tea picking machine with a grant. “We are confident that the production will increase as compared to the past,” bhandari said.

Maijogmai rural municipality has distributed hand-held tractors and tea picking machines to the farmers under the agricultural mechanization program on Thursday.

Kush Bahadur Thebe, chairman of the rural municipality, said that the machinery distributed with 75 percent subsidy has increased the enthusiasm among the farmers and the possibility of commercial farming.

“We have distributed 10 tractors of six horsepower and 13 hand tractors of seven horsepower capacity and 17 tea picking machines,” thebe said. “Farmers have shared 25 per cent of the cost for the equipment distributed at 75 per cent subsidy under the conditional grant programme of the Koshi state government. He said that monitoring would be done for effective use of distributed materials.