Agriculture in Nepal
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This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2010) |
Terraced farming on the foothills of the Himalayas is a common sight in many of the villages in Nepal
Nepali women planting rice
In
Nepal, the economy is dominated by agriculture. In the late 1980s, it was the livelihood for
more
than 90 percent of the population, although only approximately 20
percent of the total land area was cultivable, it accounted for, on
average, about 60 percent of the GDP and approximately 75 percent of
exports.
[1]
Since the formulation of the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1975–80),
agriculture has been the highest priority because economic growth was
dependent on both increasing the productivity of existing crops and
diversifying the agricultural base for use as industrial inputs.
[1]
According to the World Bank, agriculture is the main source of food, income, and employment for the majority.
[2]
In trying to increase agricultural production and diversify the
agricultural base, the government focused on irrigation, the use of
fertilizers and
insecticides, the introduction of new implements and new seeds of high-yield varieties, and the provision of
credit. The lack of distribution of these inputs, as well as problems in obtaining supplies, however, inhibited progress.
[1]
Although land reclamation and settlement were occurring in the Tarai
Region, environmental degradation and ecological imbalance resulting
from deforestation also prevented progress.
Although new agricultural technologies helped increase food
production, there still was room for further growth. Past experience
indicated bottlenecks, however, in using modern technology to achieve a
healthy growth. The conflicting goals of producing cash crops both for food and for industrial inputs also were problematic.
The production of crops fluctuated widely as a result of these factors as well as
weather
conditions. Although agricultural production grew at an average annual
rate of 2.4 percent from 1974 to 1989, it did not keep pace with
population growth, which increased at an average annual rate of 2.6
percent over the same period.
[1] Further, the annual average growth rate of food grain production was only 1.2 percent during the same period.
[1]
There were some successes. Fertile lands in the Tarai Region and
hardworking peasants in the Hill Region provided greater supplies of
food staples (mostly rice and corn), increasing the daily caloric intake
of the population locally to over 2,000
calories per capita in 1988 from about 1,900 per capita in 1965.
[1]
Moreover, areas with access to irrigation facilities increased from
approximately 6,200 hectares in 1956 to nearly 583,000 hectares by 1990.
[1]
Crops
Rice is
the most important cereal crop. In 1966 total rice production amounted
to a little more than 1 million tons; by 1989 more than 3 million tons
were produced.
[1]
Fluctuation in rice production was very common because of changes in
rainfall; overall, however, rice production had increased following the
introduction of new cultivation techniques as well as increases in
cultivated land. By 1988 approximately 3.9 million hectares of land were
under paddy cultivation.
[1]
Many people in Nepal devote their lives to cultivating rice to survive.
In 1966 approximately 500,000 tons of corn, the second major food crop,
were produced. By 1989
corn production had increased to over 1 million tons.
[1]
A Nepalese coffee grower
Other food crops included
wheat,
millet,
barley, and
coffee, but their contribution to the agricultural sector was small.
[1] Increased production of cash crops, used as input to new industries, dominated in the early 1970s.
Sugarcane and
tobacco also showed considerable increases in production from the 1970s to the l980s. Potatoes and
oilseed production had shown moderate growth since 1980. Medicinal
herbs were grown in the north on the slopes of the
Himalayas,
but increases in production were limited by continued environmental
degradation. According to government statistics, production of
milk,
meat, and fruit had improved but as of the late 1980s still had not
reached a point where nutritionally balanced food was available to most
people. Additionally, the increases in meat and milk production had not
met the desired level of output as of 1989. Nepal has more than 50% of
people engaged in agriculture. Food grains contributed 76 percent of
total crop production in 1988-89. In 1989-90 despite poor weather
conditions and a lack of agricultural inputs, particularly
fertilizer, there was a production increase of 5 percent. In fact, severe weather fluctuations often affected production levels.
[1]
Some of the gains in production through the 1980s were due to increased
productivity of the work force (about 7 percent over fifteen years);
other gains were due to increased land use and favorable weather
conditions. According to Statistical Information on Nepalese Agriculture
(2008/2009) only 65.6% of people depends on agriculture and 21% of land
is cultivated whereas 6.99% of land is uncultivated.
Agriculture mechanization in Nepal is led by Shrestha Agri Inputs,
Satungal-9, Kathmandu.It supplies various farm machinery such as
harvesters, threshers, corn sellers, and many more
Practice good cleaning of equipment and field between seasons
Use clean seeds and resistant varieties
Do not over apply fertilizer
Encourage natural pest enemies
Do not apply pesticide within 40 days of planting
Properly store grain
