Kathmandu. In order to preserve the traditional farming system and to encourage farmers to cultivate Municipality-12 Shukla Gandaki {{} {{} Municipality-12{{} has distributed incentives to farmers rearing oxen. As many as 39 farmers in the ward were provided Rs 5,000 per plow of oxen.

The farmers of ward no. 12 were given cash incentives on Thursday under the programme run by the Agriculture Development Branch of Shukla Gandaki Municipality Municipality. Handing over the budget to the farmers, ward chair Indra Gurung said the local levels had been implementing various programmes to make agriculture self-reliant and production-oriented.

Stating that it was necessary to preserve traditional agricultural practices along with the use of modern technology, Gurung expressed the belief that such incentives would encourage the farmers at a time when the use of oxen for farming was gradually decreasing in the rural areas.

‘The plough bull has an important role to play in preserving our ancestral agricultural system and the basis of local production. “The municipality has launched the programme in recognition of the hard work and contribution of the farmers,” he said. Various support and incentives will be brought targeting the farmers in the coming days as well. ’

He added that the municipality has also prioritized programs related to seeds, training, technology transfer and agriculture infrastructure development to make agriculture commercial and production-oriented.Chief of Agriculture Development Section of the municipality, Deep Kumar Upadhyay said that the incentives were distributed to preserve traditional agriculture system, promote livestock of local breeds and motivate farmers to continue farming. 

According to him, the number of farmers rearing oxen has been decreasing in recent years with the increase in agricultural mechanization.However, he noted that oxen are still an important base of farming in hilly and rural areas.

“Traditional agriculture system is linked to our agricultural culture. Upadhyay said, “Protecting oxen also means preserving agricultural traditions, organic products and rural lifestyle.” Therefore, the municipality has launched this program with the objective of encouraging the farmers. ’

The farmers who have received the incentive amount have expressed happiness over the farmer-friendly program by the local government giving priority to the agriculture sector.