FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

By Jai Narayan Jha

NEPAL is basically and predominantly an agricultural country. About 82 per cent of the people depend on it for their livelihood. More than 66 per cent of the country's income is derived from this sector. Up to a few years back in the total export of the country the share of agricultural production was 80 per cent.

Mainstay

Ninety per cent of total population resides in the rural areas whose mainstay is agriculture. Agriculture contributes over 40 per cent in G.D.P. of the country. Over 60 per cent of population in rural areas are in semi-employment positions. There is poverty in rural areas and disparity in land holding system. It has deteriorated the whole situation. Nearly half of the peasant families in Nepal belong to the small categories with holding less than 0.5 per cent hectare of land. About 49 per cent of people are below the poverty line. The number of people below the poverty line is increasing at the rate of two per cent. It is estimated that more than 11 million people are below the poverty line. About 90 per cent of farmers are poor of which 60 to 70 per cent being small and 33 per cent much smaller farmers. Fifty-five per cent of farmers own less than 12 per cent of cultivated land while the average farm size is 0.2 hectare only. About 70 per cent of the farm households with holding more than 15 per cent possess as much as 59 per cent of cultivated land. Poverty is increasing because of lack of land, employment opportunities and resources.

Poverty in the rural area is 2.5 times higher than in the urban area. Fact finding studies have suggested that about 24 per cent of small and medium landowners in the mountain region, 40 per cent in the hilly area and 18 per cent in the terai are below the poverty line.

Besides, foodgrains production in various geographic areas of the country also presents a gloomy picture. Terai accounts for 26.2 per cent of total arable land and with 49.60 per cent of the population. Terai is the 'bread basket" for the whole country. It produces surplus food grains, which are supplied to the food deficit mountainous areas. It is noteworthy that in the total production 32 per cent comes from the hill and only 4 per cent from the mountainous districts. Of the total arable land of 2326 million ha. only 16 per cent is under cultivation in mountainous areas. An average holding of land in this area hardly exceeds 0.1 to 0.5 ha. Of the 55 mountainous districts 46 are the food deficit districts. Some districts solely depend on the government for regular supply of food grains. Nepal Food corporation has to supply large quantity of food grains to these areas on subsidised rates. Food demand of mountainous districts has been increasing at 6.7 per cent per year.

Poverty is increasing in the mountainous areas. Deficiency in food has compelled the mountainous people to come down to terai in search of food and employment. As a result, the population of mountainous districts has come down to 53 per cent from that of 58 per cent while the population of terai is increasing at the rate of 4.1 per cent. The national growth rate of population is 2.27 per cent only. As such terai is facing pressure in absorbing unwanted population.

According to the data from 1960 to 1979 the population of Janakpur, Rajbiraj, Biratnagar and Kathmandu increased by 60 per cent, 49 per cent, 27.56 per cent, 24.30 per cent respectively. The migration of people from hilly areas to the terai has caused great loss in forest resources. Over the years the forest resources of the country have decreased from 56 to 29 per cent. Projection shows that with on going trend the accessible forest in the terai area will disappear in 25 years. Migration of people from the hilly area to terai in search of food may be expected to continue at current rates, equivalent to about 1500 families per year. Deforestation causes drought and famine.

Rivers beds have risen by 15-30 cm annually and flooding is doing considerable harm to the crops in the Gangetic plains. It is estimated that about 240 million cubic meters of soil is being washed away by Nepal's four major rivers and 600 tributaries. The soil loss is calculated to be between 20 tons per ha. annually reaching over 200 tons in some critical areas. If the present trend continues without properly being checked, denundation rates will accelerate and the possibility of far reaching destruction of Nepal's eco-system cannot be precluded.

Hence the major challenges are to increase the production and productivity for rapidly increased population and to export food grains for reducing the trade deficit. Increasing the production of cash crops and raw materials for the consumption of agro based industries and diversify the crops to facilitate local farmers to absorb local labours throughout the year and to discourage them from going to Punjab and Hariyana in India for additional earnings.

Agriculutral sector was accorded the top priority ever since the First Five Years plan was launched Rs. 4678.75 and 33.96 and 7202 crores were expended respectively in the agriculture sector in the First to Third plan periods. Similarly an out lay of Rs 234.96, 435.25, and 886.87 crores were earmarked for Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh plans respectively. Some 31.1 per cent in the sixth plan and 31 per cent in the seventh plan period was set aside for agricultural development. Similarly, in the Eight plan period Rs. 2119.3 crore was earmarked for agricultural sector.

However despite all these the progress in this sector has still been gloomy. Over the years the production as well as the productivity have declined. Food grain production is continued to decline owing to frequent drought and famine. The government has not paid proper attention to increase the irrigation facilities. Whatever growth was registered over the years that was not due to the streamlined programme of "green revolution" rather by the expansion of arable land by 0.7 per cent annually.
As a result of the decreasing trend in the agricultural production Nepal had to import cereals worth 45 crores in 1981/82. Rice export amounted to 165000 MT in 1975 but it had decreased to 13000 MT in 1979/80. As early as in 1979 FAO warned Nepal that it would become a net importer of foodgrains from 1980 onwards.

The agricultural programmes and projects have made slower progress because of lack of trained persons and those trained not properly utilised. The major constraints in the hilly areas are the steepness of teraians, soil erosion, encroachment of forest and denude land which have brought about extensive land slides and destroying the cultivable land by floods. Similarly, lack of managerial capacity, overemphasis on building infrastructure, rather than paying adequate attention to the common problems of the peasants have been the major problems of agricultural sector. Likewise, inability to study the genuine problems of this important sector of the economy and devising ways and means for incorporating the views of the peasants are other problems which need immediate attention.
The background of the civil servants concerned for agricultural development is not from farming sector as such most plans are unpragmatic and based on assumption. It is experienced that the problems are one and the solutions sought are quite the other. Similarly, there is the greater need to invest large amount of money on irrigation facilities both by the central government as well as by the local government units. In recent years labour problems have emerged as a major hurdle in the rural areas. The wages of construction and industrial laborers are higher than that of the agricultural labourers. The terms and the conditions of their service vary from village to village and from district to district. Some political parties instigate the labourers to demand more wages and keep soldering in works. The cost of production is much higher than the output. Sometimes even the seeds are not returned. This is a pity that in Nepal there is the problem of labour but a large number of labourers go to Punjab and Hariyana for higher earnings.

Need

If drastic changes are not introduced in agriculture, the problem in a few years time will be chaotic. The country cannot cope with the ever increasing need of foodgrains as a result of population explosion. Famine can invite starvation and the economy of the country cannot allow to import foodgrains for long.

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