Smallholder farmers can use polyhouses to produce high demand vegetables, such as tomatoes, and can earn a substantial income from even a relatively small plot of land in a short time.

During the wet season (June–October), the monsoon rains severely limit the type of crops that can be grown in open fields and they also restrict the production of seedlings. Low-cost polyhouses can be used to protect crops from excessive rainfall and can provide a sheltered environment for the production of better quality crops over the rainy season cropping period. For example, smallholder farmers who produce high demand vegetables such as tomatoes can earn as much as USD 350–500 from a plot of land which measures only 100 m2 in area over the short time period from June to November. This is much more than they can earn by growing any traditional crop by conventional methods. The Sustainable Soil Management Programme (SSMP) is promoting this technology in several mid-hill districts of Nepal.

Nepal mid-hills

WOCAT database reference: QT NEP 31

Location: Nepal mid-hills

Technology area: Sustainable Soil Management Programme (SSMP) implements its programmes in several mid-hill districts of Nepal. The map above shows districts where they have worked in the past (dark green) and where they worked in 2011 (light green).

Conservation measure(s): Agronomic

Land Use: Annual cropping (rainfed)

Stage of intervention: Prevention of land degradation

Origin: Introduced through projects

Climate: Humid/subtropical

Related approach: Farmer-to-farmer diffusion (QA NEP 1) and Farmer-led experimentation (QA NEP 3)

Compiled by: Bishnu Kumar Bishwakarma, SSMP and Helvetas Nepal

Date: April 2011, updated March 2013

Download PDF

• A low-cost polyhouse for tomato production in the rainy season