In 2011, Paras Katuwal was about to sit for his SLC exam when his father Khojraj returned home after spending more than a decade abroad. Paras, his brother and mother were overjoyed to have Khojraj, who was back in Dharan after leaving his job in the fields of Israel.
But soon Khojraj and his family members had a big debate. On the one side of the debate was the Israel-returned man and on the other was his wife and children.
“Dad said he wanted to do agriculture,” remembers Paras. “Our dad had gone to Israel because he just did not like working in the fields,” he adds, “and now that he was back, he wanted to get back to the fields.” The family simply could not understand what Khojraj was up to.
“We had a discussion for a few months, and finally dad convinced us to give it a try,” says Paras. “He spent all his hard-earned money, around Rs 5-6 million, on buying land on the outskirts of Kathmandu, where he wanted to grow vegetables using ‘Israeli’ technology.”
The junior Katuwal was not convinced. Like any other youngster growing up in Nepal’s urban centres, he wanted to go abroad to study and earn a living there. “I wanted to go to Australia, but day by day I got more and more involved in the project.”
It was only later that he realised what his dad was up to. Khojraj had worked in the fields of Israel, where the revolutionary drip irrigation system was invented. By making use of every drop of water, the technology had the potential to increase yields by as much as 200 per cent. “As you may know, Nepali farmers produce up to 5-6 kilos of tomato per plant in a year, but we managed to produce over 12 kilos in one year, that too from one plant!”
It was only a matter of time before Paras was involved full-time with the new company his dad had established, Nepal Drip Irrigation P. Ltd. The company also started selling and installing drip irrigation systems, and soon he was travelling to cities such as Pokhara and Biratnagar to make sales pitches. “Only a handful of people who had seen the system work understood what we were doing. But we spent a lot of time going door-to-door,” says Paras, who is now the proud CEO of the company.
“We have not done anything new. This technology has been around for decades now. We just brought it to Nepal,” he adds. “All we do is calculate how much of water each plant needs to grow, and provide the same to the plant by the means of pipes. Similar is the case with fertilisers and nutrients,” the recent BBA graduate says.
The company the Katuwals run has helped thousands of farmers increase the productivity of their fields. Paras says he is glad that his company has left an impact on the local farmers.
Paras’ dad is no longer actively involved in the day-to-day affairs of the company, he’s counting on his son to take the business forward.
Paras’ Drip Irrigation P. Ltd was one of the companies selected for Rockstart Impact Accelerator programme in 2016. The Netherlands-based accelerator helped Paras secure investment from Dutch investors to take his business to the next level. Paras says that the programme has helped him gain a broader perspective on the world of business and how businesses need to make an impact on the community.
The programme has helped Paras understand what numbers international investors look for in companies they want to put their money in. According to Rockstart, the programme makes “10 ambitious companies investment-ready in 100 days.”
Under the programme, the companies receive intensive coaching from local and international professionals that are dedicated to providing hands-on support and networking opportunities. Since 2014, Rockstart Impact has accelerated 29 companies from which 21 have secured investment pledges raising over three million Euros in foreign direct investment.
Meanwhile, Paras says he is just getting started. “Even when our company was small, we were making an impact.” When they grow, the impact is also bound to grow.
Application for Rockstart Impact’s 2017 Accelerator programme closes on October 5, 2017.
