Uchit Jaivik

Idea Studio Nepal, a platform that promotes entrepreneurship, launched four products of its Season 6 entrepreneurs at a programme organised in Kathmandu. A total of 30 participants attended the product launch programme held at the office of Idea Studio Nepal, in Anamnagar, Kathmandu, on Monday, February 27. Experts and stakeholders from various fields and media personnel were present in the programme. The programme was announced by Pragya Ghimire, Project Officer of Idea Studio Nepal Mayank Garg, Culinary Director, Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (GATE College); Tara Jung Thapa, Head of Food and Beverage Department at GATE College; Krishna Ram Maharjan, Director of Information Technology, Academy of Culinary Art; and Tshering Lama, Executive Chairperson of Idea Studio Nepal were present in the programme The production of Idea Studio Season 6 Ideator Uchita Maharjan’s ‘Uchit Jaivik Udhyog Pvt Ltd’; Kamala Lama’s ‘Zambhala Krishi Farm’; Anand Kumar Shrestha and Sulochana Shrestha’s ‘Tomato Puree’, and Susma Rana and Ashok Prasad Chaudhary’s ‘Abhiram Agrotech’ were launched. Uchit Jaivik Udhyog uses rice, mustard oil cakes, bone mills and other components to make organic fertilisers that do not reduce production. The company produces organic fertilisers, multivitamins, and nourishing fodder which are bio products. The idea of Uchit Jaivik Udhyog is to replace chemical fertiliSers with organic fertilisers. The company indexed in Province 2 has the capacity to produce 1 tonne of organic fertiliser per hour. Likewise, Zambhala Krishi Farm has been generating income by preparing and marketing new products such as pomelo candy, dry fruits, jam, and pickles by processing peels and other parts of seasonal fruits like pomelo, persimmon, peach, and pear that are wasted in villages. The company owner Kamala Lama of Kavre has been producing and distributing fruit products and earning Rs 20,000 to 50,000 on daily basis. The company registered just four years ago has also been providing employment to around 25 people daily. ‘ Agro Army Pvt Ltd Save Food’ started the work with the concept of saving farmers. The company tries to preserve tomatoes that are not consumed and are about to be thrown away. Their job is to make tomato puree and pack it in bottles and sell and distribute them to party palaces, hotels and restaurants. Similarly, ‘Abhiram Agrotech’ has been selling and distributing egg-hatching machines for the past three years. The machines are sold according to the demand of consumers in villages as well as cities, where ordinary farmers can get commercial products in a simple way. Further, the machine can be used to dry vegetables, fruits or meat products for reuse. Idea Studio Nepal through its various programmes has succeeded in garnering wide participation of people in the age group of 16 to 67 years in all seven provinces of the country. Idea Studio Nepal gives priority to new ideas in all areas such as promoting Nepali products, contributing to social transformation, and promoting green and environment-friendly technology. Idea Studio Nepal provides advice, training, business networking, incubation programme, mentorship as well as facilitation for financial access to promote the selected businesses from Nepal.

Some twenty years ago, the advent of chemical fertilizers in the country marked the beginning of commercial and chemical-based farming. The government introduced many campaigns in coalition with the donor nations to advocate and promote the use of chemical fertilizers nationwide. Farmers embraced this technique instead of conventional farming methods as the chemical fertilizers were advancing the yield of their effort. But Krishna Chandra Maharjan was not optimistic about this rampant use of chemical fertilizers, so he decided to open his own organic manufacturing company in Hetauda, Makwanpur in order to promote the use of organic fertilizers in farming. The farming community and the Government of Nepal were so pored over the chemical fertilizers that they remissed the vision of Maharjan. Lack of support and debacle in the business led him to shut down his company just after a year of its establishment. But soon the excessive use of chemical fertilizers proved to be a bad omen in the farmland of Nepal. In order to replace the chemical fertilizers, the farmers and government started to accelerate the demand for organic fertilizers. Realizing this need, Krishna Chandra Maharjan, established ‘Uchit Jaivik Udhyog Private Limited’ at Thecho, Lalitpur in 2012 to serve the farmers throughout the nation with the motto of ‘Producing Organic Fertilizers and Organic Feed Supplement for Sustainable Agriculture’. Since its inception, Uchit is producing organic fertilizers and feed supplements. The motive behind the production of feed supplements is to discourage the use of antibiotics and oxytocin on animal rearing. They are providing farmers with bio feed supplements to help them utilize animal products as organic products in farm areas. The bio-pesticides and bio-vitamins are serving as a boon to the farmlands of Nepal. Their products are affordable and available throughout the valley. Eastern and Western Nepal are facilitated by their commodities. The invigorating atmosphere in the farmlands and enthusiasm of farmers to use biofertilizers are the main reasons why they are spreading their work in the eastern regions of Nepal. Their ambition is to extend Uchit’s branches in every province of the country. The commodities of Uchit are taking new heights every year. Their fertilizers have proved to be productive and qualitative for the past five years. The positive feedback and encouragement from their customers have fortified them to qualify their products more than before. Their impact in the market is creating new heights in the agricultural industry of Nepal. In order to make their firm farmer friendly, they are launching their branch in Province 1 to engage the farmers to make effective compost fertilizers. Making farmers self-reliant through agriculture is the current goal of Uchit Jaivik Udhyog. They have not let the quality of their fertilizers degrade and even use own techniques to culture bacteria in their firm. Recently, they organized a Soil Test program in Budanilkantha in order to educate the local farmers about the quality of their soil. Many farmers have been using chemical fertilizers without evaluating the condition of the soil in their farmlands. This program aimed to let them know about the soil quality of their farmlands before applying such fertilizers. Besides the soil program, they have launched a new bio-pesticide in Khotang and Morang. In these districts, whitefly (Laikira )had been impeding the growth of the crops. But after the use of this biopesticides, the farmers are not facing the problems of low yield. As the company is spreading its wings of progress, some problems have incurred in their firm. Some local companies have been producing cheap and low-quality compost fertilizers; and when the farmers use these fertilizers on their farm, the results are no good. This impact in the minds of farmers has led to a problem because many farmers have started to think their products being adulterated. Similarly, farmers in Nepal are still unaware of the differences between compost and organic fertilizers. Most of the time people assume that Uchit has been producing compost fertilizers. The impression of using quality fertilizers only after the free distribution is another problem they’ve been facing. Some farmers agree their products helping the land flourish but are not ready to use it unless the government or donor agencies distribute them. Due to such raging conditions, they are unable to thrive their company. It’s been five years of Uchit Jaivik Udhyog but Krishna Chandra Maharjan had been working on improvising Nepal’s agriculture since a long time. His family is the pillar and an inspiration for every farmer in Nepal as they toil harder and harder each day to empower Nepal’s agriculture.Their work is commendable and worth appreciation.