Mahashila Rural Municipality is set to utilize the barren land of individuals for agricultural production by taking them under lease. This decision comes in response to increasing youth migration, monkey raids in farms and a shortage of manpower, all of which have contributed to a growing number of productive lands remaining unused.
The municipality will be taking vacant and barren lands across all six wards of the municipality for agricultural and livestock production. The municipality will mobilize volunteers to cultivate crops, fruits, and raise livestock on these unused lands.
The municipality’s 17th Village Assembly has passed the Agricultural Institution Operation and Management Act 2081, with the aim of boosting agricultural production by utilizing barren land and creating employment opportunities. Landowners wishing to offer their land for municipal use have been encouraged to contact the respective ward office or the municipality’s agriculture branch.
The municipality has requested landowners to specify the reasons for keeping their land barren, including migration, lack of active manpower, and other factors. They should submit an application signed by a household member agreeing to lease the land for at least 10 years, along with a copy of the landowner’s certificate and tax receipt by mid-Chaitra.
The municipality will determine the rent based on land evaluation, recommendations from a committee, and the municipality’s approved annual program. Chief Administrative Officer Devendra Pandey informed that all barren lands within the municipality will be utilized.
According to him, the cultivation of crops will be organized based on geographical suitability. Plans include planting millet, corn, wheat, barley, rice, potatoes, and various fruits, as well as operating commercial farms for goats, chickens, and buffaloes. Volunteers appointed under the municipality’s ‘One House One Employment Program’ will be mobilized to support these initiatives.
Ishwari Bhusal, the rural municipality chairperson, stated that the program is aimed at achieving prosperity through agriculture. Given the increasing migration from the village, he emphasized that the municipality had no choice but to utilize the barren lands. The rise in migration has caused farmland to remain unused, which is why the municipality is now taking matters into its own hands.
Previously, the municipality offered Rs. 100,000 in cash and six months’ worth of food grains to citizens returning to the village as an incentive. However, this initiative has not significantly increased the number of returnees, prompting the municipality to take more direct action by planting crops and mobilizing its own workforce.
Since the last fiscal year 2023/24, the municipality has also been running a fruit expansion program. Fruit seedlings, including walnuts, macadamia nuts, mangoes, lemons, oranges, and bananas, were distributed to farmers with full subsidies. Chairman Bhusal noted that many farmers who had stopped growing food crops due to monkey raids and manpower shortages are now expanding their fruit crops.
