Agriculture in Nepal Pradeep Wagle

Background Information: Nepal

Nepal Land locked country in South East Asia. Home for eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest (8848 masl or 29029 ft). Land area: Nepal: 56,827 sq. miles Oklahoma: 68,667 sq. miles Population: Nepal: App. 30 million Oklahoma: 3.75 million

Climate: Elevation ranges from 70 m (230 ft) to 8848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level. Tremendous variation in climate (tropical to temperate) as a result of variation in altitude. Three distinct regions: Southern plain Terai (23%), Mid hills (42%) and Mountains (35%). Nepal’s weather is generally predictable and pleasant. There are four main climatic seasons: (a) Spring : March-May (b) Summer : June-August (c) Autumn : September-November (d) Winter : December-February June to September – rainy season (80% of annual rainfall)

Statistics Cultivable land – 4 million ha (30% of total land) Irrigated land – 1 million ha Forest – 4 million ha (30 % of total land) About 39% of Country’s GDP from Agriculture. 65% people derive livelihood from Agriculture. Agriculture is largely based on low-value cereals and subsistence production, with a mere 13 percent of output traded in markets (The World Bank report).

Reasons for subsistence farming: Continuous land fragmentation (av. family holding acreage less than 1 ha) Unavailability of other employments in rural areas Low investment capacity Lack of infrastructure and market opportunities

Major crops in Nepal Cereals: Rice, maize, wheat, millet and barley. Rice is followed by maize and wheat. Vegetables: Potato, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, tomato, beans, brinjal, chilli etc. Fruits: Mango, apple, peach, pear, litchi, orange, banana etc. Cash crops: Oil seed crops, potato, tobacco, sugarcane, jute, ginger, cardamom, tea etc. Increasing trends of growing vegetables and cash crops in areas with road and market facilities.

Ag statistics (Source: Ministry of Ag) Crop Land (million ha) Production (million MT) Rice 1.5 (3 MT/ha) 4.5 Corn 0.9 (2 MT/ha) 1.9 Wheat 0.3 Cash crops* 0.5 5 Pulses and beans Fruit 0.07 0.7 Vegetables 0.23 2.8 Cotton 100 ha 59 MT Tea _ 16000 MT Coffee 300 MT Milk production: 1.5 million MT (1 million MT from buffaloes and 0.5 million MT from cows) Meat production: 0.25 million MT (Buffalo – 0.15 m MT, Goat – 0.05 m MT, chicken and others – 0.05 m MT)

Productivity of Major Cereals: Rice Millet Central Bureau of Statistics, 2005

Rice Rice is grown in a diverse environments ranging from tropical plains to foot of the mountain at highest elevation (10,000 ft). Nepal’s average productivity (3 MT/ha) whereas world average (4 MT/ha). Nepal has released fifty five (55) rice varieties with full package of growing practices in the last 40 years. New aromatic rice variety released in 2008.

Reasons behind low production: Use of older generation seeds (most farmers use their own seed for decades) Low doses of fertilizers Little use of improved cultivation practices

Corn The second most important cereal in Nepal. Grown from sub tropical to cool temperate climates (upto 8000 ft). Grown under rainfed condition. Over 25 vars. developed in Nepal for diff. regions Area under improved maize ~ 86%. However production has not increased much (steadily increasing trend). Recommended spacing: 25 cm P-P, and 75 cm R-R Weeding at 5-8 leaf stage Apply urea (2-3 g) to each plant and earthing up at knee height stage

Reasons behind low corn production Farmers use higher seed rates (>100%) but final population 38% lower (after thinning) (Carlos U. Urrea, CIMMYT – Nepal) Farmers use 2-3 g urea per plant (44 kg N/ha for 38000 plants) (National recom. for corn 100:80:60 NPK/ha) Poor adoption of new varieties Lack of awareness of new varieties Inaccessibility of seed of new variety (lack of active seed providers at local level) No/low cash economy Prone to stored grain pests

Sources of farm power: No. of tractors > 30,000 (2003) (Manandhar, G. B.) *(Adhikary, S. K.)

Mechanization status In hills and mountains: Traditional tools and implements existing (depended upon human and animal power) Limitations for mechanization: Narrow terraces Lack of road networks and electricity Options: Improve hand tools and animal drawn implements

Mechanization (Cont.) In plain Terai: The use of mechanically powered machines (tractors and power-tillers) are gradually increasing for tillage, transport, and threshing. Transplanting, weeding, and harvesting are still done manually.

Machines/equipment popular among farmers Pedal paddy thresher – Kathmandu valleys and hills Power wheat thresher- Kathmandu valley Multi-crop thresher – Plain Terai region Rice sheller – hills and terai Zero tillage seed drill – Terai Surface seeding of wheat (min tillage) – Terai Bullock drawn seed drills Bullock drawn iron plough Bed planter – Terai Manual rice and corn planters Manual and Pedal corn sheller

Rice Transplanting Rice field preparation

Corn seeding behind plough furrow Weeding

Obstacles to commercialization of agriculture Mountainous terrain (restrict mechanization) Poorly developed road network (restrict access to markets) Inadequate technical support Inefficient exploitation of water resources (< 40% cultivable land irrigated) High land fragmentation, absentee landlordism/ unequal land distribution Subsidies in India ’s agricultural sector mean that Nepal ’s Terai region faces competition with Indian cereal production

Possibilities: Increase yields through: Implementation of innovation techniques Use of genetically improved crop var. (GMOs) Fertilizer applications (soil and nutrition mgmt.) Shift from a subsistence to a commercial economy Improve farmers’ economy: Commercial and industrial crops in Terai (Plain area). High value horticulture and cereal production in the Mountains and Hills. Exports of off-season horticulture, niche products, and non-timber forest products like medicinal plants. Organic production is practiced by default in Nepal. Those produce needs to be certified.

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