June 18th,
2015 | Hari
Kumar Shrestha
BANEPA, Nepal
– In what might sound surprising to many, farmers of Kavre
district have installed CCTV cameras on Bodhichitta (a kind of
small berry) trees to protect its valuable seeds.
Local farmers
sell a garland of Bodhichitta for up to Rs 5,000. The same garland
is then sold in Tibet for Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000.
Farmers have
come up with the idea of installing CCTV cameras on Bodhichitta
trees after thieves started stealing the seeds. The four CCTV
cameras that Sonam Singh Tamang, a farmer of Shikhar Ambote VDC-9,
had installed on the trees helped him punish the thieves. A gang of
thieves destroyed the cameras and stole the seeds from the
trees.
Last
year, Tamang had earned Rs 6 million by selling Bodhichitta
seeds.
“Till last year,
I had hired a contractor. This year, we decided to sell the seeds
on our own,” he said. “But the thieves destroyed the CCTV cameras
and stole more than half the seeds from the tree at midnight.” The
thieves stole the seeds before they had matured. The seeds cannot
be sold, according to the farmer. After the incident, Tamang’s
family, including his wife and two sons, are staying in Dhulikhel
fearing the thieves.
Kavre police
have arrested two thieves and they are searching for other gang
members.
Last
year, Tamang had chartered a helicopter to airlift around 200 kg of
Bodhichitta seeds.
Like
Tamang, 34 farmers from nine VDCs and Panchkhal municipality in the
district are engaged in Bodhichitta farming, as per the record
maintained at the District Agriculture Development Office
(DADO).
The
high cost Bodhichitta seeds is attributed to its religious
significance in the Lama and Tamang communities. The major market
for the garland is Boudhha of Kathmandu. Price of the Bodhichitta
garland, when transported to Kathmandu from Kavre village soars
depending on its size and quality. It soars even further when it
reaches Tibet. A single garland fetches Rs 100,000 to Rs
150,000.
REPUBLICA