Agriculture Ministry proposes Rs. 51 bn for next FY

Kathmandu, Apr. 28: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development is preparing policy, programmes and budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26 with the focus on increasing agricultural productivity while preserving soil health.

The Ministry has outlined its policy, programmes, and budget plans for the upcoming year, aiming to boost agricultural output while ensuring ecological sustainability, said Dr. Hari Bahadur KC, Joint Secretary at the Ministry.

He said that the Ministry is preparing comprehensive strategies to increase the production of agricultural goods within the proposed budget of Rs. 50.75 billion. 

Out of this amount, Rs. 4.12 billion will be allocated to capital expenditures, with a substantial Rs. 46.63 billion set aside for recurrent spending.

"We are preparing programmes based on the discussions with and suggestion received from various stakeholders," said KC. 

"Due to the acute shortage of skilled manpower and the lack of necessary infrastructure to implement the budget, there is no way to introduce many new programmes in the coming fiscal year. We are preparing to select some programmes that are considered important from among the ongoing programmes and propose them in the coming fiscal year."

The government is scheduled to present policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament on Friday (May 2, 2025).

A significant portion of the Ministry's budget – approximately Rs. 27 billion, or over 53% of the total – is dedicated to subsidies for chemical fertilisers. 

Dr. KC emphasised the Ministry's focus on ensuring the availability of these fertilisers while simultaneously promoting sustainable agricultural practices.  

However, the use of chemical fertilisers is important to increase production at present, he said. "We are committed to balancing increased agricultural production with the protection of soil health," he said.

The Ministry will also launch initiatives to improve soil quality, which has suffered due to years of intensive agricultural practices. 

With rising concerns about the excess use of pesticides in crops, the Ministry has planned a series of campaigns aimed at reducing pesticide residues. 

These efforts will include expanding pesticide testing programmes and educating farmers on proper pesticide usage to comply with safety standards.

"Recently, pesticides exceeding the prescribed amount have been found in everything from food grains to vegetables and greens. For this, we are going to introduce a campaign-oriented programme with concrete policy arrangements to control pesticides," he told The Rising Nepal.

In line with its mission to make the country self-reliant in agricultural production, the Ministry is also planning a new commercial agricultural production programme for the mid-hills and along the East-West Highway, he said. 

This will prioritise crops like orange, walnut, coffee, and cardamom, along with promoting goat farming, he said. 

Additionally, the Ministry plans to expand the cultivation of chaite paddy through targeted campaigns in municipalities, with a focus on areas with available irrigation. He said that the ministry has planned to advance the programme of chaite paddy cultivation as a campaign from the next fiscal year.

The ministry has prepared a plan to operate the chaite paddy campaign through municipalities by providing conditional grants in coordination with the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project.

Under the Prime Minister Agriculture Programme, the area of chaite paddy would expand at least 5,000 hectares of land where irrigation facilities are available, he said.

Dr. KC said that the Ministry would give priority for restructuring the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Programme in the next fiscal year aiming to make the programme effective for increasing production and productivity.

Focus on using barren land, ensuring ecological agriculture 

Similarly, the Ministry will give priority to the implementation of agricultural production enhancement programmes to substitute the import of agricultural produce and make the country self-reliant in agriculture and ensure food security.

According to him, the Ministry will give priority in its programme for the upcoming budget to the proper utilisation of barren land with the mutual cooperation among the federal, provincial and local governments. He pointed out the need to practice agriculture on barren land to increase production.

For that, the government will bring policies and programmes to provide facilities to the concerned farmers to use barren land for agriculture, he said.

He said that the programme would be introduced to facilitate farmers for planting fruits in the barren land which help reduce the import of fruits into the country. 

Joint Secretary Dr. KC said that the Ministry would advance the programmes to support farmers in marketing of their produce and connect them in market accesses.

"We will adopt a policy of linking agriculture with industry in the policies and programmes for the coming fiscal year. Linking agriculture with industry will not only help farmers sell their produce easily but will also encourage commercial production," he said.

Likewise, through the policies and programme for the next fiscal year, the Ministry will focus on the promotion of ecological agriculture and organic farming, he said.

Similarly, the Ministry will introduce a programme for promoting indigenous crops in many districts, he said. 

He said that the Ministry will give priority to enhancing capacity of local levels for the proper implementation of budget and achieve targeted result.

In regard to the livestock, the Ministry will launch a campaign for control foot-and-mouth disease and vaccination of other animal diseases across the country in the next fiscal year, he said.

Although there is an agreement with China to export buffalo meat, the country has set a condition for exporting meat that must is completely free from foot-and-mouth disease.

“We cannot export meat to China until foot-and-mouth disease is controlled. For this, we are going to propose a foot-and-mouth disease control programme through the budget, giving it a special priority,” he said.

Dr. KC said that the programmes for the next fiscal year will focus on encouraging farmers towards commercial animal husbandry in the next fiscal budget as well.