Attract youth, adopt tech to agriculture: VP Yadav

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 11: Vice President Ramsahay Prasad Yadav has underscored the need for a strong partnership among the government, private sector and development partners to establish a sustainable food system.

He made these remarks while inaugurating the Nepal Food Forum-2024 organised jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

The forum was held to provide a platform to share the state of science, technology, and innovation in the country, encourage diverse perspectives on science, technology, and innovation and promote science, technology and innovation for transforming the agricultural food system. 

“Agriculture is the backbone of the national economy of the country. But production and productivity of agriculture were not increased due to various challenges. So, all agencies including the government, private sector and development partners should work in a coordinated manner to ensure the right to food, which is included in the constitution as a fundamental right,” he said. 

Vice President Yadav suggested that even though climate change, the increasing trends among youth to fly overseas for jobs and study and lack of interest in agriculture added challenges to the agricultural sector, it should be addressed through policies and programmes. He stressed the need to attract youth to the agriculture system through new innovation and, adoption of modern technology and other facilities.

Stating that the government has declared a campaign’ Decade investment in agriculture’ through the budget of the current fiscal year, he said that the Nepal Food Forum would be a platform to increase investment from the government, private sector and the development partners in coming days.

He said that the private sector should increase investment in agriculture to alleviate poverty and for developing sustainable food system instead of only focusing profit.

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari admitted the low budget allocation in the sector.

“The portion of the budget allocation in agriculture is low. Low budget allocation has affected production and productivity,” he said. He, however, said that the government was planning to increase investment from the government and private sector to increase production and productivity and make the country self-reliant in agricultural production.

Stating that climate change is becoming challenge for the agriculture system in Nepal, he said that the supports from development partners, including FAO would be vital to overcome the challenges in the agriculture sector.

Kusum Devi Thapa, chairperson of Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament, highlighted the importance of modernisation and commercilisation of agriculture to increase production and food security.

Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Deepak Kumar Kharal said that the modernisation and commercilisation in agriculture were the first focus of the government.

Stating that it is impossible to make the country self-reliant in agriculture and increase its contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the traditional and subsistence agriculture system, he said that a huge investment with modern technology is a must to commercialise the agriculture sector.

The contribution of agriculture to the GDP stands at 24 per cent and about 66 per cent population are engaged in agriculture, he said. Presenting a paper on ‘Decade of Investment in Agriculture of Nepal’, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Sabnam Shivakoti underscored the need for increased investment from government, private sector and development partners for the overall development of agriculture and agriculture-based our economy.

“The budget allocation of the government to the agriculture sector stands at only 3 per cent of the total budget. About 50 per cent of the total budget of the Ministry of Agriculture is spent only on fertiliser subsidies. In this context, how can we increase production and productivity using modern technology?” she said. 

Ken Shimizu, FAO Representative for Nepal and Bhutan, stressed the need of partnership among the concerned bodies engaged in agriculture for the sustainable food system through the development of the agriculture system.

This Forum will be fruitful for translating ideas into investments for agrifood system transformation and promoting science and technology, he said.

Stating that the ongoing climate change has been posing a threat to the agriculture system in Nepal, he said that there was a need to adopt climate-friendly technology and increase investment from all to overcome the challenges.

Chandra Prasad Dhakal, President of the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the private sector was ready to increase investment in agriculture in coordination with the government.