Agriculture farming in dharan
Agriculture in Nepal has long been based on subsistence farming, particularly in the hilly regions where peasants derive their living from fragmented plots of land cultivated in difficult conditions. Government programs to introduce irrigation facilities and fertilizers have proved inadequate, their delivery hampered by the mountainous terrain. Population increases and environmental degradation have ensured that the minimal gains in agricultural production, owing more to the extension of arable land than to improvements in farming practices, have been cancelled out. Once an exporter of rice, Nepal now has a food deficit.
Over 80 percent of the population is involved in agriculture, which constitutes 41 percent of GDP. The seasonal nature of farming leads to widespread underemployment, but programs to grow cash crops and encourage cottage industries have had some success over the years. Two-sevenths of the total land is cultivated, of which 1.5 million hectares produced 3.7 million metric tons of the staple crop of rice in 1999. Wheat and maize together take up a similar portion of the available land, with harvests of 1 million metric tons and 1.5 million metric tons, respectively, in 1999. Production of cash crops increased substantially in the 1970s, and sugarcane, oilseed, tobacco, and potatoes (a staple food in some areas) were the major crops. Agricultural production accounted for about three-fourths of total exports in the late 1980s. As noted earlier, most exports consist of primary agricultural produce which goes to India. In general the majority of Nepalese farmers are subsistence farmers and do not export surplus; this does not prevent a minority in the fertile southern Tarai region from being able to do so. Most of the country is mountainous, and there are pockets of food-deficit areas. The difficulties of transportation make it far easier to export across the border to India than to transport surplus to remote mountain regions within Nepal. A considerable livestock population of cattle, goats, and poultry exists, but the quality is poor and produces insufficient food for local needs.
Over 80 percent of the population is involved in agriculture, which constitutes 41 percent of GDP. The seasonal nature of farming leads to widespread underemployment, but programs to grow cash crops and encourage cottage industries have had some success over the years. Two-sevenths of the total land is cultivated, of which 1.5 million hectares produced 3.7 million metric tons of the staple crop of rice in 1999. Wheat and maize together take up a similar portion of the available land, with harvests of 1 million metric tons and 1.5 million metric tons, respectively, in 1999. Production of cash crops increased substantially in the 1970s, and sugarcane, oilseed, tobacco, and potatoes (a staple food in some areas) were the major crops. Agricultural production accounted for about three-fourths of total exports in the late 1980s. As noted earlier, most exports consist of primary agricultural produce which goes to India. In general the majority of Nepalese farmers are subsistence farmers and do not export surplus; this does not prevent a minority in the fertile southern Tarai region from being able to do so. Most of the country is mountainous, and there are pockets of food-deficit areas. The difficulties of transportation make it far easier to export across the border to India than to transport surplus to remote mountain regions within Nepal. A considerable livestock population of cattle, goats, and poultry exists, but the quality is poor and produces insufficient food for local needs.
No comments: