Sitamaya Tamang (9th cohort)
From a very young age, I was interested in agriculture and I wanted to know more about organic farming. My involvement in mushroom farming during my school inspired me to learn more about it. My classes were going virtually, so I thought that it’s best time for me to learn about organic farming. I researched for different organizations and then I heard about Organic Taja Farm and I requested them for the internship. Luckily, I got the opportunity.
On Jan 19th 2022, I traveled to Panauti for my internship.
It took almost two hours to arrive there from Kathmandu. Speaking about Panauti,
It is a part of Kavre District and a wonderful place with orange orchards. Many people are involved in agriculture there. It was my first time at Panauti and I found so many things different from my village, especially good access to the roads and internet.
On the second day, I visited the farm for the first time; it was bigger than I expected. The staff working in the farm helped me to visit the farm. During the field visit, I was very curious about the farm and I asked so many questions to the staff members and they explained to me in detail about the farm. While visiting, I think the variety of the vegetables were adding beauty to the farm. During my learning process, I was able to know how to prepare beds for planting and how to prepare the mixture of the fertilizer. Also, I learned how to transfer saplings. It was my first time and first hand experience. I learned about various types of vegetables that I had never seen before. I also learned how to manage a nursery and how to store the seeds. It was my first time separating the seeds one by one, so it was a little bit challenging for me.
I was new to the place and I also did not know many people there, but I was enjoying my experience. In the farm, I saw some women working and I introduced myself and learned about them as well. They told me that I was so lucky to get this opportunity to learn more about farms and utilize my time and learn more . After hearing this I was very interested to learn more and It was really a pleasing experience to meet them.
Further, from the experience I also learned how to prepare and drench liquid fertilizer. When I was in school, I read these things only in books but there I was learning them all in a practical way. I was also involved in the activities of the farm like harvesting the vegetables and it’s marketing etc. In the farm, they use tractors to plow the field and I also tried to plow the field and It was an interesting experience for me.
In addition, I was able to learn how to prepare compost fertilizer and how to irrigate the plants. I also saw the day to day operation of the farm. Overall, I was able to know how an Organic farm is being managed. In a short time, I felt that I learned many new things in a practical way as well as I was able to understand the difference between modern farming and traditional farming.
In conclusion, I would like to say that environmental conservation is our responsibility and we should use smart techniques in life to help our nature. Taja Organic Farm uses cloth bags instead of using plastic bags, so I think everyone should follow this as it would be environmentally friendly. Also I would like to express my gratitude to Samaanta Foundation and Taja Farm for providing me this kind of opportunity and helping me with each and every step of the learning process .
Thank you!