Thanks to Agriculture Officer Bhawana Bista for this summary of a great training for the community.

Two-days training on the basics of rooftop farming was successfully completed on 12th and 13th of December 2023. There were altogether 22 interactive participants including two undergraduate (BSc.Ag Students). The reminaing 20 participants were community members; some of them were practicing rooftop farming already, and the rest were interested in rooftop farming.

An Introduction and Objectives of the program was presented by Bhawana Bista, Agriculture officer. An overview of the training objectives and schedule was presented to set the tone for the two-day training. Participants were encouraged to actively engage in the sessions and make the most of the learning opportunities.

After short opening remarks by Top Bahadur Malla, Managing Director, the training sessions started with a collection of expectations from the participants followed by a quick pre-evaluation questionnaire.

Training Sessions were led by our trainer Pralisha Adhikari, Co-Founder/Director Towerganics Nepal. Miss Pralisha Adhikari is an excellent resource person. She is an entrepreneur based in Kathmandu working and running training sessions majorly in urban farming and hydroponics.

The sessions were all prepared and presented by the trainer. The practical sessions were all held in the Kopila Valley vocational site and assisted by the Agriculture team.

We had interactive sessions on the basics of rooftop farming (know-hows and importance), Nutrition, Crop calendars, innovative techniques in farming, nursery management, care and management of plants, composting at home, vermicomposting, liquid fertilizers, pest and disease management, and management of nutrient deficiencies in plants.

Practical sessions were related to soil mix preparation for the nursery as well as for grow bags, composting, vermicomposting, and preparations of liquid fertilizer.

The sessions were wrapped up with feedback and a quick post-evaluation test.

Certificate Distribution and closing remarks were given by Sudha Shakya, Kopila Valley Director of Operations. We awarded certificates of completion to participants as a recognition of their active participation and commitment to learning.

Participants/graduates also received essential materials to kickstart their rooftop farming journey:

5 kgs block of cocopeat

3 kgs of vermicompost

Seed packages (swiss chard, lettuce, pakchoy)

2 seed trays

10 growbags

The two-day training on the basics of rooftop farming was deemed highly successful, with participants expressing overall satisfaction and enthusiasm. The combination of theoretical sessions and hands-on practical sessions proved to be effective in providing a comprehensive learning experience. We hope to host more and similar training courses in the future for even more in-depth learning and exploration.