Make Agriculture Appealing

Two-thirds of Nepal's population rely on agriculture. The country has enough arable land and suitable weather conditions to grow enough food to feed its population. Yet the sad reality is that we have been importing agricultural products worth billions of rupees. In fact, the import bill has grown so big that it now consumes a third of our remittance, leaving us with scant money to pursue other important goals. Despite the overwhelming majority of the workforce in the sector, the production is neither sufficient to meet the demand nor farmers have been able to earn decent livelihood from it.

So what ails the agriculture sector? First, attitude. In many places, farming is associated with shame and is synonymous with poverty. Once people get educated, they shun labouring in the field and choose salaried service-sector job. To change this attitude, farmers must be viewed with respect and cultivating crops with honourable trade. Unlike in the past, many of our youth these days choose foreign employment over engaging in agriculture. This is pushing many farmers out of the sector for lack of shortage of labour. Second, out-migration from villages to city areas. This has, on the one hand, reduced arable land in urban areas, but on the other, left the arable land barren in rural areas. Third, only about half of the arable land has irrigation facilities, forcing farmers to depend on rains to grow crops, rendering them unable to cultivate crops throughout the year, and reducing the production. 

Fourth, little investment in agriculture. There is no enough good roads to transport produce from place brimming with abundant supply to those reeling from short supply. Compounding the problem is poor irrigation facilities. A country where hundreds of perennial rivers meander shouldn't face scarcity of water to irrigate field. In a positive sign, however, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has pledged to work to establish industrial villages to bolster agricultural production. Fifth, yield doesn't even cover the cost.  A host of factors, including climate change, lack of good seed variety, lack of fertilizer, are responsible for this. 

Less than two months ago, when the season of the country's biggest festivals had just begun, the people were shocked to learn there was no sugar, one of the basic necessities, to be bought in local shops or in supermarkets. The shortage was attributed to low sugar production, among other factors. That was because very few, if at all, farmers want to grow sugarcane these days. The reason? The cultivation, they say, neither covers the cost nor do sugarcane mills pay them on time.  

The price of food is already high enough for many to afford. If concrete measures are not taken now to enhance the appeal of agriculture, we might even have to face the shocking price of the staples like rice, vegetable, wheat, edible oil, among others, in the near future resulting from the dire production shortfall. The government must be serious about finding out what ails the agriculture and do the needful to boost the production. Agriculture has long suffered from neglect. We no longer can afford to do so. We must work to make agriculture attractive and farming respectful.