Innovation in agriculture

 
Promoting technology based commercial agriculture
 
Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu
Paras Katuwal at the young age of 20 already has a work profile that is quite impressive. Despite being an undergrad student he gets invited as a guest lecturer to MBA colleges. Katuwal is the winner of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards ( GSEA) Nepal competition. The young entrepreneur will represent Nepal at the 2016 GSEA Global Finals in Bangkok, Thailand where he will be competing with top student entrepreneurs from around the world.
Two years back, he founded Nepal Thopa Sichai, an organisation that works in the field of agriculture, rural development and environment.
The company supplies modern agricultural and smart irrigation for farmers and institute working for technology based modern agriculture.
The main purpose of the company is to support transformation of a subsistence based agricultural system to modern commercial agriculture for food security and income generation through supply of modern agricultural technologies and tools.
Talking about the story behind Nepal Thopa Sichai, he shared, “ I belong to a family of farmers and I closely understand the challenges in this sector. Therefore, I decided to step up and solve the existing problems in traditional farming.” He added, “ I realised that mere passion is not enough and I had to have technical knowledge and skills to bring a revolution in this field.” He completed his professional training in Management of Greenhouse and Drip Irrigation and Advanced Solar Pumping system training from Jain Irrigation Inc, Jalgaun , Maharastra, India.
His team has been working since the last two years to demonstrate and supply economical tools and technologies for commercial agriculture.
The company is the number one name currently in the field of complete irrigation packages in Nepal by the Ministry of Agriculture and National Agriculture Machinery Entrepreneurs Association. According to him they deliver drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, fogger system, for 10 m2 of small land to commercial agricultural farms, golf courses, hotel gardens, residential buildings and offices.
He has also worked as a training facilitator in MaHa Agriculture which is a joint initiative to introduce modern agriculture technologies in Nepal with the focus on environmental friendly organic agriculture with greenhouse and fertilisation technologies for commercial agriculture.
According to him, he would not have achieved anything without his team of experts and mentors. His father who is his biggest source of inspiration is also his mentor.
Katuwal said, “ Nepal Thopa Sichai is recognised in such a short period of time because the idea is innovative. Further, development and innovation in agriculture is an important factor that can bring prosperity in the nation.”

(April 24, 2016)