k | ltlaDa
Nature reflects our nature
Chances of Agricultural Revolution and Self Sufficiency after Covid-19
We were trying to gain some stability in our economy after 2015 earthquake and the Indian embargo and now we have been hit with another massive problem , Covid-19 . From 5.89 % growth in GDP in 2014 , we fell to very low 0.5 % in 2015 and then we gained some improvements and reached 8.223 % in 2016 and then fell again to 6.658 % in 2018 ( World Bank ). This roller-coaster is not new to our government because frequent changes in government with different interest in investments have hindered different international projects and intra investments . Our GDP in 2020 is expected to be in between 1.5 % to 2.8 % in 2020 amidst this pandemic ( World Bank ). Similarly , the investment in Agriculture which held account for 26.98 % of total GDP on Nepalese economy in 2019 ( Economic Survey , 2018 / 19 by Ministry of Finance ) isn ’ t stable either . During the past 2 decades , Nepal ’ s agricultural sector ’ s production has increased by 3.2 %. However , with new budget on May 4tth , 2020 , we can foresee a focus on agriculture .
Nepal , an agriculture-based nation is divided into 3 major regions geographically and run more or less same from east to west and is abundant in agrobiodiversity . 66 % people directly engaged in farming as per Food and Agricultural Organization ( FAO ). For any nation whose such population is engaged in agriculture of course has an impressive chance of taking big leap towards agricultural reform . However , news of local vegetables that have been destroyed in this lockdown has been very depressing that too from the direct instructions from the local government . Nepal has imported 1,11,790 metric ton of vegetables worth NRs . 4,12,55,00,000 from Chaitra 11,2020 to Jestha 11 , 2020 ( Online Khabar , 06 / 01 / 2020 ) while Nepalese farmers are compelled to destroy their vegetables also because it isn ’ t being sold at cheaper values . But the problem isn ’ t just the lockdown , Nepal has been importing vegetables from India and other nations such as Indonesia , China , etc . for a long time now . Nepalese farmers have been facing problems such as failure in access to market , difficulty in even transportation and spoilage of products .
Well , there is a massive opportunity for government , people of Nepal to make this lockdown a blessing in disguise . Covid-19 lockdown has disrupted the ongoing peak harvest season , which in the incoming process is considered to endanger food cycle . Nepal has a large number of unskilled , often unemployed , workers well suited to farm work but they cannot be put to work unless a technical training is provided to them . Now this is where the government can focus i . e . migrant workers who have returned to Nepal . Import data from last year seems encouraging with the new budget and its plans incorporating migrant returnee . Government has also promised 40,000 employment opportunities this FY2020 through soft agricultural loans ( Individual with not registered business can take loan up to 4 lakh and for registered agri-business for collective land and farming can get loans up to 15 lakhs with the least interest rate ) and plans making Nepal independent of vegetables and meat import . Delay in the crop plantation is new to problems this year with crops being damaged by pests and insects being always there . However , a bolstering 41.4 billion allocation for agricultural sector seems to be inspiring with improvement in local market development such as hatbazars in different places . Government plans to make about 200 warehouses for storage of food and has allocated NRs . 1,00,00,00,000 to be given to local government . Now all this money if invested with proper plans could construct a pathway towards self-reliance . Since labor harvesting is impossible during the lockdown , severe pressure is on the harvesters also the farmer ’ s market linkage is disrupted because of lack of transportation and markets , migrant returnee could be well used here as well . Nepal haven ’ t been producing plenty of agricultural products since a very long time now and it has resulted to us being a major importer of goods from our neighboring countries . Also , betwixt Covid-19 , India , being our major shareholder in importing vegetables and fruits is under another trouble , Locust Plague . It has already destroyed around 35,000 acres of agricultural land in 7 states of India destroying everything that comes in the way ( firstpost . com ). This is the worst attack in 3 decades . This could affect the amount of vegetables that will be exported to Nepal as well . With all these problems
102 Year Book of Environmental Science