24-year-old young youth, Dinesh Rana is one of NEEDS’ off-season vegetable trainees in the Bheemdatta municipality. As a son of a farmer, Dinesh had learnt many of the traditional ways to grow vegetables, but he knew few modern techniques to grow in a greener, more productive way.  

NEEDS’ training supported trainees to farm in a greener way, without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides and instead promote the use of biological pesticides, such as jhol-mol, bio-manures, and compost manures to reduce the impact on the surrounding environment: “These activities are supporting farmers to transition to greener economies.”

Previously, Dinesh and his family used hazardous pesticides on their farm. Through the training, Dinesh has learnt of the harmful effects of pesticides and is now more focused on organic farming techniques and using alternative approaches, such as bio pesticides for controlling insect pests instead of chemical pesticides.

"The training is very good for learners who want to learn new ideas and technical work.”

Dinesh is now spreading his improved understanding on the negative effects of chemical pesticides with his neighbours and demonstrating his green skills to them to promote them to adopt these new organic approaches for growing vegetables.