Mukunda Bahadur Malla of Mallarani Rural Municipality-5, Sarangkot, has been cultivating mushrooms commercially, producing about 1,000 kilograms per month. He sells them in the market through his employees.

In addition to market sales, Malla receives a subsidy of Rs 50 per kilogram when he delivers mushrooms to the collection center operated by Mallarani Rural Municipality. The municipality provides production-based subsidies to farmers to support agricultural marketing. In the last quarter alone, Malla sold 702.5 kilograms of mushrooms through the collection center and received a subsidy of Rs 35,125.

Ramesh Kumar Shrestha, vice-chairperson of Mallarani Rural Municipality, said that the production-based subsidy is part of their broader policy to commercialize agriculture and promote self-employment in line with local needs and contexts.

“Business and jobs may not be available to everyone, but we have introduced this policy to make agriculture more commercial and self-sustaining,” he said. He expressed confidence that the initiative will help farmers become more competitive and lead the municipality toward self-reliance.

The municipality provides subsidies based on product type: Rs 10 per kg for vegetables, Rs 15 for pulses, Rs 15 for spices, Rs 15 for eggs, Rs 50 for ghee, and Rs 50 for mushrooms. The subsidy guidelines also allow for additional products to be included at any time.

By the third quarter of the current fiscal year, Mallarani Rural Municipality had distributed approximately Rs 350,000 in production-based subsidies. According to Moti Acharya, head of the agriculture branch, Rs 52,900 was distributed in the first quarter, Rs 89,000 in the second, and Rs 197,687 in the third.

Satyamohan Rana of Mallarani Rural Municipality-2, Kharindanda, said the new subsidy model has motivated farmers more than previous distribution-based systems. “The motivation to produce more has awakened in farmers,” he said. “There is competition among them to increase output.”

Meanwhile, Pyuthan Municipality has been providing subsidies on milk at Rs 10 per liter, said Giriraj Poudel, chief officer of the municipality’s Animal Service Branch. So far this fiscal year, farmers have collected and sold 71,020 liters of milk, earning a total subsidy of Rs 710,200. A total of 82 individuals have benefited from the program, with funds directly deposited into their bank accounts.

Since Pyuthan is a market-oriented urban area, the collected milk is delivered to nearby market hubs, said Bhoj Bahadur Basnet, chairperson of the Shivalaya Milk Collection Cooperative, Khaira.