Surya Narayan Mahato of Shripur in Koshi rural municipality was involved in subsistence farming before the Koshi flood swept away hundreds of homes, destroying land and livelihoods in 2008.

Mahato’s 2 bighas, too, turned into a desert. His paddy field was covered with sand up to 10 feet.

The flood in the Koshi River–the largest river in Nepal, completely destroyed villages in wards 4, 5 and 6 of Koshi rural municipality.

Around 35,000 families in the villages were affected and around 3,100 bighas were covered with sand and silt from the river, making them unfit for cultivation of traditional crops such as paddy, wheat and maize.

The government provided compensation of Rs200,000 for each bigha. However, that was not enough to cover the losses incurred by farmers, including Mahato.

Mahato tried to clear the sand deposited on his farmland, but the efforts were in vain.

“Almost 90 percent of the youths left for foreign employment as the farmlands turned into deserts,” said Mahato.

“I tried to sustain myself by rearing livestock.”

The fate of Mahato and other farmers, however, changed after a decade.

The team of local farmers visited Rajasthan in India in December 2019 to observe various farming techniques in the sand, which was assisted by the Koshi Rural Municipality and the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Sunsari. The team visited several farms in Rajasthan for more than two weeks.

Nepali farmers observed that lemon, pomegranate, gourd, peanuts, Indian Jujube and many other crops could be grown in sand.

After returning home, Mahato started planting lemons.

Farmers in his village imported around 3,000 saplings of lemons from Rajasthan.

“I have lemons in 5 kattha now,” said Mahato.

Mahato earned Rs300,000 last year selling lemons. “This year, I am hopeful of getting more production.”

The majority of the lemons are sold in the local markets.

The success has drawn many youths who left for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and India back to their villages, said Mahato, who is also a member of Ward 4.

Shahabuddin Alam of Kumyahi Hudki worked for nine years in Qatar after the flood turned his 4 bighas into a desert.

His fertile plot was covered with sand up to 5 feet.

Alam returned home four years ago and planted 420 saplings of Rajasthani lemons on a bigha.

He also planted various varieties of gourds and watermelons.

“But lemons are giving the best returns,” said Alam.

Last year, he earned Rs1.2 million from his lemon farm. “If the production increases as expected, I am sure to earn up to Rs1.5 million this year.”

According to farmers, a single plant yields 40 to 100 kgs of lemons in a season. One bigha can accommodate 540 saplings.

‘There is a high demand for lemons in the market. I have decided to plant more saplings next year,” added Alam.

Asgar Ali of Hudki Tol in Koshi rural municipality lost 15 bighas to the flood.

After touring Rajasthan, Ali started commercial farming on his 9 bighas.

Last year, he earned Rs300,000 selling lemons grown on 2 bighas. In addition to that, he also produced around 9 tonnes of maize.

Sunil Shah, chief of the agriculture department of Koshi Rural Municipality, said that the locals have started making handsome earnings from the desert.

According to Shah, locals have been doing commercial lemon farming on 8 bighas in Koshi Rural Municipality.

Likewise, 250 farmers have been growing pointed gourd and jute. They are also engaged in growing sesame and black lentils.

Ayub Ansari, chief of Koshi Rural Municipality, said that around 80 percent of the affected farmland has remained barren and unused.

“The locals have been able to grow crops on 1,000 bighas by removing sand,” said Ansari. “We are encouraging the farmers to grow crops based on the Rajasthani model.”