IRRI AR 2011 - Nurturing Nepal's Jagged Edge

7/31/2019 IRRI AR 2011 - Nurturing Nepal's Jagged Edge

1/3

10

Rice, the most important crop in

Nepal, contributes approximate-ly one-ourth o gross domestic

product and almost hal o the calorie

requirements o its people, according

to the Nepal Agricultural Research

Council. Rice is cultivated on 1.56 mil-

lion hectares in Nepal and over 70% is

grown in the oothills and in the Terai

region. More than 75% percent o its

working population is engaged in rice

arming or at least 6 months o the

year. Thus, the development o its rice

sector is key to Nepals fght againsthunger and poverty.

A challenging land to till

But only two-thirds o the nationsentire irrigation network is ully op-

erational during the monsoon season

and only a little more than one-fth o

the land is irrigated year-round, said

Dr. Stephan Haeele, a scientist at IRRI.

This makes armers in rained areas,

around 79% o the total rice area in

Nepal, highly vulnerable to drought.

The lack o assured irrigation acil-

ities is the most important problem or

rice production, according to a study

conducted by IRRI scholar Bishnu Bilas

Adhikari1 on crop management prac-

tices or rice in the hilly Lamjung and

Tanahu districts o the Western De-

velopment Region o Nepal in 2011.

In these districts, only about 59% o

the armers are sel-sufcient in rice

or the whole year. O the 41% ood-

insufcient armers, about 36% were

able to produce enough rice or more

than 10 months, and the remaining

5% produced rice or only 6 months.

When drought aected Nepal in

2009, Mr. Adhikari also investigated

management options that could help

armers minimize the negative eect

o drought on yield and reduce the

so-called yield gap in nondrought

years.

Management treatments such

as a lower seedling density and olderseedling age gave comparatively

higher yields, and these eects were

even more pronounced during the dry

season o 2009.

Seeds of life

Although rice is a staple ood, the

supply o good seeds in Nepal is lim-

ited. The availability o good-quality

seeds means ood security, said Da-

vid Johnson, IRRI scientist and coordi-

nator o the Consortium or Unavor-

able Rice Environments (CURE). No

seeds, no harvest. This is especially

true or communities aected by ca-

lamities.

In 2010, under the auspices o

CURE, partners rom a previous re-

1IRRI scholar at Sam Higginboom Instute of

Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences, Allahabad,

India.

The rough, formidable terrain of Nepal has hindered the introduc-tion of modern agricultural technology, particularly in rice produc-tion, resulting in minimal gains for subsistence farmers. IRRI and its

partners are helping improve the productivity of these fragmented plots

through better rice varieties and nutrient management practices.

adition and innovation. Farmers in the hills of Nepal need new technologies to increase the pro-uctivity of the traditional farming systems that maintain diversity and ensure sustainability of ricearming.

Joe

Ibabao

(4)

IRRI Annual Report 2011


2/3

11

CURE aims to expand the cover-

age o seed producers groups by

targeting new locations in Nepal.

We are working toward giving mil-

lions o armers in Nepal and in many

Asian countries access to new varieties

and technologies, Dr. Johnson said.

And a community-based seed systemthat provides a mechanism to link

stress-tolerant seeds to ood on the

table.

Drought-proofng rice production

In 2011, three drought-tolerant rice

varieties bred by IRRI in partnership

with the Nepal Agricultural Research

Council were releasedSookha Dhan-

1, Sookha Dhan-2, and Sookha Dhan-

3 (named ater the Nepalese word or

drought, sukha). They have shown a

yield advantage o 0.81.0 ton per

hectare over current varieties under

severe drought.

These new varieties have consis-

tently shown superior perormance in

armers felds under severe droughtconditions, said Dr. Arvind Kumar,

IRRI plant breeder who helped de-

velop the varieties. They are likely to

have a great impact in enhancing and

stabilizing rice productivity in Nepals

rained areas.

While Nepals government is

working toward a 10-year strategy o

revamping irrigation, these drought-

proo varieties provide a solution or

its rained agriculture.

search project on ood security in mar-

ginal uplands ormed seed producers

groups in seven villages in Lamjung,

Tanahun, and Gorkha districts. Since

the ormation o the seed producers

groups, the production o high-quality

seeds has grown exponentially rom

just over 20 tons o lowland rice and2.1 tons o upland rice in 2009 to 155

tons o lowland rice and 14 tons o

upland rice in 2010. Total estimated

seed production or 2011 is 320 tons

o lowland rice seeds and 51 tons o

upland rice seeds. I the estimated

yields are correct, the production o

lowland rice seeds doubled and up-

land rice seeds more than tripled since

2010.

The seed producers groups have

also been a means or CURE to intro-duce new varieties to the communi-

ties. Participatory varietal selection ap-

proaches showcased the perormance

o new varieties and revealed what

armers preer in a variety.

Initially, armers could not believe

that new varieties could improve their

low production as they had mostly

been producing low-yielding tradi-

tional varieties. Now, these armers

can eat rice year-round. In these vil-

lages, more and more armers see theruits o their labor as they participate

in seed production o upland rice and

other crops. Seed exchanges and

inormation sharing among armers

have improved, said Dr. Digna Man-

zanilla, social scientist at IRRI. Wom-

en are more active now than beore in

arming.New rice or ancient land. Sookha Dhan-1, Sookha Dhan-2, and Sookha Dhan-3, three newIRRI-bred rice varieties, show superior performance even under severe drought conditionsand could help stabilize rice productivity in Nepals rainfed areas.

Nurturing Nepals jagged edge



3/3

12

be most proftable in felds near thehouse and reasonably good on lower

terraces and in felds ar rom the

house. Because the felds in the mid-

Hills and the inner Terai that are closer

to the house are most ertile, they are

best suited or growing hybrid rice va-

rieties, which some armers did.

We have to conduct more re-

search on nutrient management or

rained lowland rice in Nepal, also incombination with dierent rice variet-

ies, said Mr. Bhattachan. But our

new results are very interesting and

will already help to better understand

armers practices and how to help

them improve their rice production.

Managing the earths ertility

Another actor that contributes to the

sluggish growth o Nepals agricultural

sector is low input use. Most armers

use armyard manure although they

are gradually supplementing it with

mineral ertilizers. However, the ma-

jority o armers cannot aord to buymineral ertilizers.

Another IRRI scholar, Birendra

Kumar Bhattachan,2 is developing rec-

ommendations to deal with problems

related to soil ertility. Farmers use

very low amounts o mineral ertil-

izers in Lamjung, he said. They are

not earning enough to buy much

ertilizer, but we can still increase rice

production per unit area in mid-Hill as

well as in inner Terai and Terai regions

through proper nutrient management

and the use o appropriate rice variet-

ies.

Farmers have a considerable

indigenous knowledge o the charac-

teristics o their complex production

environment, and o how best to use

rained lowland rice varieties and ma-

nure in this environment, according

to Mr. Bhattachan. Building on arm-

ers practices and incorporating local

knowledge is particularly important inthis complex and highly diverse envi-

ronment.

Mr. Bhattachan ound that arm-

ers use dierent ertilizer strategies

depending on the situation o the

feld, be it situated on lower or up-

per terraces, or close to or ar rom

their house. Field classifcations need

to be considered when making site-

specifc ertilizer recommendations,

he explained.

High organic ertilizer rates seemmost important or upper terrace

felds, and high mineral ertilizer rates

should be avoided in these felds be-

cause the response to them is small,

Mr. Bhattachan indicated. Meanwhile,

the use o mineral ertilizer seemed to

2IRRI scholar at the Instute of Graduate Studies,

Central Luzon State University, the Philippines.

Stretching feld ertility. The majority of Nepalese farmers cannot afford costly mineral fer-

tilizers but proper nutrient management and the use of appropriate rice varieties can stillincrease rice production per unit area in mid-Hill as well as in inner Terai and Terai regions.

See related video on YouTube at

hp://youtu.be/Kxc_O4WIYYg

Nurturing Nepals jagged edge


Nutrient cycle. Livestock and crops are closely integrated in Nepal. Farmers feed weedsgrowing among the crops as well as crop by-products to their livestock. In turn, animalmanures are used to fertilize the soil.

IRRI AR 2011 - Nurturing Nepal's Jagged Edge

Documents