Transcript Precision Agriculture in Nepal

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
0.3
Cash crops*
0.5
5
Pulses and beans
0.3
0.3
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 field preparation
Rice Transplanting
Weeding
Corn seeding behind
plough furrow
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.
Thank you