posted by Karen Hampson, main text by Niraj Prasad Koirala

As part of ILEIA's 25th anniversary celebrations, we ran a photo competition. We received a number of entries, many of which were accompanied by short stories. I thought they were too interesting to be left sitting on my desk, so in the coming weeks I will be posting some of these inspiring tales from the field here. First is this story and photos sent to us by Niraj Prasad Koirala from Nepal.

"The photos reveal the story of a farmer named Mrs Mayadevi Adhikari of Chitwan district. Seeing her farms I was amazed. There I found 1000 species of plants and animals. Besides this, she has adopted a new method for making compost manure. A hollow cemented pot is placed on blocks and the raw organic material are placed in it from the top hollow portion. In the bottom hollow portion there is a steel net which prevents the downward movement of manure. After the manure ripens, the net is removed and manure is taken out as shown in last picture.

She has also practised making eco-friendly vermicompost. Around the house there is a stream of water where fishes are kept. She also practises bee keeping, which is very beneficial for the agro-ecosystem. The top picture shows Mrs Mayadevi with her paddy field. In the paddy field she has kept fishes and cultivates azolla. So her farm is purely biological and not harmful.

I think if farmers get adequate chance and knowledge, the future of family life based on agriculture is very good. They can be an innovators and agro-ecosystem conservers just like Mrs Mayadevi. So knowledge and chance has changed her from an ordinary farmer to an agro-ecosystem conserver."

Niraj Koirala is a student at Tribhuvan University, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science(IAAS) Rampur Agriculture Campus Rampur,Chitwan District, Nepal.