Officials in Chingad Rural Municipality in eastern Surkhet have ventured into an agribusiness, utilising their time beyond office hours.

Before and after working for the local government from the designated 10 am to 5 pm, they work a lease land to cultivate a variety of vegetables.

This agricultural initiative supplements their income while also creating employment opportunities for local residents. The staffers, who come from various places, have teamed up for this enterprise.

The idea took root in April last year during a casual conversation among the staff on how to make their leisure productive.

By May, they had got into vegetable farming. Initially, they leased 80 ropanis of land, which now has grown to 200 ropanis. They grow seasonal and off-season vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, and green leafy vegetables.

They pay the rent to local landowners annually. Fifteen staff members made a total initial investment of Rs3 million and another Rs1 million in the second phase, according to Khadak Bahadur Chand, an employee of the rural municipality.

All the investors work on the field before and after office hours. While they do much of the work by themselves, they also hire wage workers when needed. This initiative employs 15 to 20 locals.

More than Rs2 million worth of vegetables has already been sold. So far, expenses and incomes are roughly balanced, said Chand.

This is the season for growing potatoes. Traders from the Birendranagar vegetable market visit the farm to purchase its produce. Vegetables are also supplied to Kohalpur and Nepalgunj. The municipal workers handle the sales themselves.

“Our main goal is to inspire local farmers with this example,” said Chand. “Traditional farming methods don’t always yield sufficient incomes. Commercial farming is essential.

“We also wanted to break the stereotype that only farmers farm and to challenge the notion that farming is for the weak. Staff members may be transferred, but we’ve committed to farming wherever we go. The locals and the remaining staff will carry on this work.”

To produce organic fertiliser, they also raising 10 water buffaloes.

This initiative has inspired residents, who are considering commercial farming for themselves. The rural municipality supports this by developing pocket farming areas in each ward. Farmers are forming groups or working individually to grow vegetables.

Currently, only 2–3 percent of residents work in other sectors; the vast majority depends on agriculture. The municipality has significant potential in both agriculture and livestock farming.

Roshan Kumar Yadav, chief of the agriculture division, said the rural municipality actively supports agriculture. A nursery has been set up to provide saplings at discounted rates of walnuts, lemons, onions, cauliflower and cabbage, among other plants.

Farmers are also receiving mini-tillers at a 50 percent subsidy.

“We will bring walnut saplings from Jumla and distribute them, just as we did with kiwi saplings from Bagmati Province,” Yadav added.

Sher Bahadur Rana, a local staff member, said their farming initiative has proved effective. “Previously, people thought agriculture wasn’t profitable. Selling vegetables was unheard of in the village. But that mindset is changing now.”

Hem Raj Khadka, another local, said the municipal workers’ farming efforts have helped create the market and established the village as a producer of a range of crops beyond the staples wheat and maize.