In Nepal, with abundant biodiversity, 65 percent of the active population is engaged in agriculture, but the productivity is a meager 2 percent. One current International Peace Scholarship student is on a mission to change that.
When her father left the family, Janani Rajbhandari Thapa and her siblings worked hard to assist their mother. Janani was a diligent student, receiving scholarships for higher education, and graduating as one of the top five students from Tribhuvan University. Her academic success and visits she made to remote districts of Nepal as a survey assistant led her to choose a career in agriculture.
“The experiences I have had as a daughter, as a student and a mid-career 
professional in agriculture have made me more committed toward working for the advancement of rural Nepalese women, who are socially, economically and culturally deprived. I came to understand poverty and misery in a more personal sense. I talked to hungry mothers and starving children who were malnourished when I worked for a Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Western Nepal.”
After graduation from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science at Rampur, she began working with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which diverges greatly from traditional cultivation. To establish stronger adult plants, rice seedlings are planted while very young, providing them with more space to grow so they have more food, air and sunlight than under normal conditions. The higher yields attainable under this system, with reduced use of water, fertilizer and agrochemicals, attracted her. If this method worked, it would be especially beneficial for small farmers and poor households, as well as for the environment.
Janani established a research plot with financial support from Professor Norman Uphoff at Cornell University. “SRI rice fields looked almost empty and dry for the first month, due to only single seedlings planted per hill, wider spacing between plants (plant population is reduced 80-90 percent), and unflooded soil conditions. After a month as the plants started tillering profusely, however, they attracted much attention. We observed up to 45 tillers per plant compared to 10 or 12 tillers per hill (with two to three plants in each hill).”
Janani began a demonstration project to help farmers understand the different management of land, labor, water and capital needed to bring greater return. She learned how difficult it was to be a farmer, the risks and uncertainties, and that small decisions can have huge impacts. It was then she began to feel the need for managerial skills and the ability to make people understand.
Her initiative to spread SRI knowledge and practice in Chitwan Valley involved working with government, NGOs and farmers. Knowledge of agricultural techniques alone was not sufficient. She felt she needed capital and financial management skills, and public affairs to strengthen the human aspects in agriculture.
Now Janani is working toward her Masters in Public Administration (MPA) at Cornell’s Institute for Public Affairs to acquire knowledge and proficiency to help people help themselves, making a better world for future generations, practicing
sustainable agriculture.
