28th Ambassadorship, Month 4, Report 1

Month: June

Free report

Topic: Mountain Agriculture in Nepal

Mountain farming is often called as family farming as subsistence farming system is prevalent mainly because of hard topography, difficult climatic and water condition, remoteness and many more.

Mountain Agriculture;

* Supply food to the population 

* Produce typical nutritious and high quality products 

* Preserve and maintain the landscape 

* Promote cultural values (tourism)

* Protect soil against erosion, avalanches and floods

Mountain agriculture in Nepal

Key mountain activities in Nepal are cropping, animal husbandry, forestry, horticulture, tourism

 Mountain region in Nepal comprise more than 75 percent of the country and host a large but decreasing part of the population 

 People in search of better/easy life are migrating to lower plain lands 

 Increasing migration is a result of /has resulted food insecurities and insufficient infrastructure development    

 More a subsistence type agriculture predominant by livestock rearing (Yak, Nak, Sheep etc) 

 Production of future smart food buckwheat, finger millet, Chino, Kaguno, fruits (apple, walnut, almond, peach), vegetables (cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, raddish) and medicinal and aromatic plants 

 Topographical condition and no road connection has made commercial agriculture in mountains hard (very first from the production to marketing of the produce)

 Government of Nepal is investing in targeted efforts to support agriculture based livelihood (PMAMP, HVAP)  

 Typical of mountain agricultural systems is the diversity of crops grown. It has been reported, for example, that in one village in Nepal, more than 150 distinct crop species and varieties are under cultivation.

Issues in Mountain Agriculture

* Low soil fertility leading to low production 

* Soil erosion-soil degradation- top fertile soil washes out 

* Access to market -produce remain unsold 

* No access to road- Linking to the possible market 

* Prone weather- extreme weather (extreme cold, snow, storm restricting the growth of crops)

* Shorter growing seasons – harvesting single crops in a year

* Land structure- fragmented, steep (hard to work on)

* Lack of infrastructure-processing, storage 

* Capital-poor families residing in mountain areas 

* Increasing Migration leading to labor shortage, less production and overall development of mountain areas