Wednesday 4 November 2015

Agriculture in Nepal


Pic : google.com

Nepal is a small country located in the northern hemisphere of the globe, surrounded by two big countries; India and China. The country is rich in cultural and biological diversity because of its climatic variation. The altitude ranging from 70-8848 meters is the major reason for so diverse climatic condition is a relatively small area.
Nepal is an agricultural country, 65.6% people being engaged in agriculture that contributes 35% in total GDP (Census 2011-12). Nepal has three major agro ecological regions (Himalayan, Hilly and Terai) with number of microclimates. The diverse topography and variable climates have both positive and negative impact on agricultural production of the country. It depends on how we perceive it. We can either utilize the varieties of of microclimates for cultivating suitable high value crops and turn it into cash or try to hide our laziness and inability by blaming the adverse topography.
There is a very high possibility of getting good economic return from agricultural sector. Having three different agro ecological regions is in fact a boon for us. Tropical fruits and vegetables can be grown in Terai, at the same time we can produce temperate fruits and vegetables in high hills. The fruits and vegetables grown in one agro ecological region can be transported to other agro ecological region where it can fetch better price, as is is the off season product for that place.  Furthermore we can produce temperate fruits and vegetables in hills and mountains and export to tropical cities of India.

Along with so many possibilities, there are equal numbers of difficulties because of our adverse topography. It makes transportation difficult. Lack of infrastructures, adequate knowledge, lack of good government policy and unavailability of agricultural inputs are some of the reasons that Nepal is still not independent on agricultural products. We import large amount of cereals, vegetables and fruits from our neighbor.

Having both possibilities and hindrances in agricultural sector is a challenge for Nepalese youth. There is no doubt about scope of agriculture in Nepal. It is opportunity for number of unemployed youths who have desire to do some significant work in their own country. Instead of going abroad if the energetic youths become united and dedicated the hindrances are not that big.

Deepa Adhikari

1 comment:

  1. Its great deal of you to write such a great article
    Very nice

    ReplyDelete