Tilling the land

Welcome to the theme!

We are no experts on agriculture, but it’s a theme of immense importance in Nepal for reasons of income, employment and much more. Has life as a farmer become better or worse from an income, food-security perspective? Well, it varies a great deal! There are farmers with growing income but also much hardship as drought, land scarcity and other difficulties loom large. Add to this the issue of chemical-based versus organic farming and “tilling the land” is a drama! We often meet farmers and as new stuff comes up, well – we’ll just share it here. Click here to get the updates!

What’s New!?

Seed imports – and how farmers lost their seed security.
Going organic – a spreading idea in Nepal?
Why go organic? A farmer in Tanahun explains.
The hybrid “catch” – farmers speak out, video.
Heat without rain – videos on the struggle of local farmers.
Toxic encounter: opening a bottle of Avertop.
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Seed imports – and how farmers lost their “seed security”

Fifteen years ago, a young Nepalese student of agriculture – N. P. Timsina – went to districts in the Mountains, Hills and Terai to study seed security. His motivation? Well, seed security, Timsina wrote back then, is where all food security begins! For centuries, local farmers in the districts that Timsina visited maintained their own seed supply. Cucumber, beans, cawliflower, as well as rice, maize and all other crops were cultivated, not with seeds bought on the market but with local, home-grown seeds. That meant a high degree of seed self-sufficiency. But in the late 1990s this whole system was changing.

The “green revolution” had brought imported seeds, and chemical fertilizers and pesticides, into agricultural communities, and this transformation was only accelerating. Indeed, many poor farmers couldn’t afford these modern inputs. But even farmers with just a bit of money to spend realised that buying seeds at the shop was a lot easier and quicker than having to cultivate and preserve seeds at home. Hybrid seeds would also yield better in some years. Moreover, donors made “seed kits” available to farmers for free, and so farmers started to abandon their local seeds for imported More…

Going organic – a spreading idea in Nepal?

Once upon a time, all farming in Nepal was purely organic. But over the last one or two decades, a significant commercialization in the more productive farm areas has taken place. Population and income levels in Kathmandu and major towns have been rising; the number of consumers who are buying not least vegetables has increased; and to exploit this demand, farmers around the capital, such as in Panchkhal out in Kavre, and in several Terai districts, have shifted from traditional agriculture to commercial, chemical-based farming.

Many commercial farmers have benefited as their yields and incomes have increased. Indeed, more volumous harvests per hectare is also what USAID and other donors promoting commercial, chemical-based farming promise. In the meantime, however, a growing number of farmers have started to talk about “side-effects” and “disadvantages”. Input like hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides can produce more than local seeds grown in traditional ways – but in recent years, commercial, chemical-based farming has started to reveal a downside. More…

Why go organic? A farmer in Tanahun explains

The growing use of pesticides in Nepal is increasingly provoking a counter reaction. Time and again, toxic levels of pesticides show up in vegetables on the markets in Kathmandu and major district towns. As a result, consumers are growing steadily more worried and conscious of what they eat, and more farmers are also becoming sceptical of commercial, chemical-based farming. So, what’s their counter-reaction? Well, still more have started to talk about “going organic”.

We just received a call from a farmer down in Tanahun, Mahendra Shrestha, who is not only talking about it. He and his wife have now taken action. They are running a small organic farm – the Holy Green Organic Farm – and other farmers in their village are also attracted to the idea. Yes, great profits can be made from chemical-based farming in short time, Mahendra agrees. But in the long term, organic farming is better. Watch the episode of “Local Voices” below to hear him explain why that is: it’s a small farmer’s views on a heated issue in Nepal today.

The hybrid “catch” – farmers speak out, video

What’s best for Nepal’s farmers: hybrid seeds – by and large imported from abroad – or original, local varieties? Well, opinions differ. But voices critical of hybrid seeds are growing. Hybrid corn, rice and other crops have been grown in Nepal for over a decade – and USAID is promoting hybrid seeds as the best way ahead. However, steadily more farmers are now raising concerns.

USAID says that unless farmers start to grow hybrid crops on a larger scale, Nepal will never become self-sufficient with grains and other farm products. Hybrid seeds – which are developed chiefly by large, foreign corporations – give much higher yields than the country’s local, naturally grown seeds. So the choice, the American donor argues, is an easy one. But farmers have started to say that there is a catch.

Hybrid seeds can produce much higher yields per hectare than original seeds ever did. There is no question about that: test sites have shown yields twice as high or more. But hybrid seeds can also fail miserably – and when they do, the situation of the farmers can turn into a disaster often greater than it is with original, local seeds! More…

Heat without rain – videos on the struggle of local farmers

The heat is undeniable these days. Some say it’s part of “global warming“, others suspect smog pollutants to be the cause, still others point to a regional cycle of climate change. But in either case, the weather over Nepal is warming up, and what’s worse for farmers: it’s also getting a lot drier. The annual monsoon is failing. In some areas the amounts of rain is a mere shadow of the past, in others it falls like a torrent, submerging paddies and washing away crops. Farmers across the country are in urgent need of irrigation or flood protection as the monsoon is delayed, erratic and insufficient.

One misfortune rarely comes alone and indeed that’s also the case with the failing rains: many villages in Nepal are confronted with a critical lack of manpower. Out-migration of young men who travel to places like Qatar and Malaysia for work has exploded. As a result, villages across the country are left without the laborers who used to build and maintain the local irrigation canals and flood dikes. While the need for this infrastructure is more urgent than ever, there’s not enough manpower available to build it. Meanwhile, help from the government is limited, and so millions of farmers are left in dire straits. More…

Locals’ own videos: social impact of migration

In few countries are remittances – money sent home by migrant workers – more important to people’s economy than in Nepal. Indeed, there is no competing with Tajikistan: here remittances constitute 48 percent of GDP, and in the Kyrgyz Republic the figure is 31 percent. But in a third position comes Nepal where remittances make up 25 percent of GDP! In short, one out of every four rupees spent in Nepal has been earned by migrant workers.

It’s no surprise that remittances make up such a large share of Nepal’s GDP: currently, at least 2.2 million Nepalis, the bulk of them young men in their twenties, work abroad – and that’s not even counting all those working abroad illegally. Officially, 2,000 more Nepalis are applying for work in places like Qatar and Malaysia every day. The reason, of course, is that few jobs are available at home. It’s even become difficult to earn enough as a farmer. Many problems – from rising costs to failing monsoon rains – have hit farmers hard, making even more youth migrate.

The impact of migration in Nepalese society is immense, but not only from an economic point of view. It has big social consequences as well. Some of the social implications are mentioned in academic papers and daily news articles. Indeed, it has become increasingly well-known that migration work comes at a price! But rarely is the microphone, let alone a video camera, handed out to local people in the villages to let them tell about it. Floriane Clement, a social scientist with International Water Management Institute, however, has done just that. The result of her project? Some worrying, local testimony. More…

Toxic encounter: opening a bottle of “Aver Top”

“Aver Top – what’s in it?” We were back at the pesticide shop in Panchkhal. The owner was passing a bottle of insecticide over the counter – one we hadn’t seen before – and a local farmer was making the purchase. He was unable to read the label but the shop owner could explain: “The active ingredient is this one.” He pointed at the text on the bottle: “It’s called Chlorpyrifos.” We chewed on the name a couple of times. It sounded quite toxic and sure enough: the insert listed a range of bugs that it kills at contact. But what is Chlorpyrifos more exactly and is it safe?

Chlorpyrifos is more toxic than your average insecticide. Look it up at one site devoted to inform about pesticides – Bhopal.net – and the first few lines give the main idea: “Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide that kills animals by attacking their nervous system (a “neurotoxin”). Organophosphates were first developed by Nazi scientists as chemical warfare agents in the 1930s. They all inhibit the action of cholinesterase, a natural enzyme… The greater and more frequent the exposure – whether via inhalation, ingestion or skin contact – the more severe and long-lasting the effects on the central nervous system…” In short, it’s a nerve agent! More…

Pesticide shopping: Inside a bag of “Looper”

“What’s the small bags over there?” We were checking out the shelves at a pesticide shop in Panchkhal. There were hundreds of bottles lined up along the walls behind the counter. In front of one of the attractive looking rows of small containers were some innocent looking bags with the label: “Looper”. A farmer had just bought one of them in the same casual way as when you go and buy a packet of cigarets. “Well, that one”, the shop-owner explained. “It’s a very effective one, so we sell quite a lot of them too. The active ingredient is called Imidacloprid.”

“Imidacloprid” – the word didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Indeed, most locals simply knew it as Looper. That – by the way – is also the name of a pest insect and a sci-fi movie about a cold assassin. What a perfect name association! The fact sheet read just like the story of a futuristic mass killer. Here’s how lethal Looper is: “Its systemic action makes it very effective against such sucking insects as leafhoppers, aphids, thrips, scale insects, mealybugs, lacebugs and whitefly. It is also effective against the immature stages of cherry fruit flies, white grubs, tentiform leafminers, elm leaf beetle, and Colorado potato beetle.” In short, it kills sucking insects and more! More…

No mask, no gloves…spraying toxic pesticides

Many farmers own so little land and make such meagre income that buying even a small bottle of pesticides is just too expensive. Commercial farmers, on the other hand, growing not only for their own consumption but also for the market, are applying pesticides at a growing rate. Like in so many other countries, many farmers don’t know how to mix these toxic liquids – in what quantities and against which pests – or how hazardous they are if not wearing protection. Thulimaya Tamang – a small-scale farmer in Kavre – is a case in point. Watch her spray and talk about it opposite: it’s no mask, no gloves!

Nepal imports 25% of its vegetables – NEAT solution

USAID – a major donor in agriculture in Nepal – operates a programme on a wholly different level than the limited organic sector. 25 percent of the vegetables on the urban market in Nepal are imported from abroad, mainly from India, and to achieve greater self-sufficiency, USAID advocates, it is crucial to improve the “value chain”. Under the NEAT programme, USAID is distributing “improved seeds” to thousands of farmers; setting up collection centres to help with transportation; and improving the marketing and retail link. The video opposite sums it all up.

“Farmers [now] see a new future in commercial vegetable production, and now traders are purchasing quality vegetables from Nepali farmers.” Narrator on the success of the programme.

No mask, no gloves: Spraying “Badal 76 – Dichlorvos”

“What are you spraying?” We just had a chat with Thulimaya Tamang about farming and now she was getting her pesticide kit ready. Time to dust the vegetables, she explained, or pest might get the better of them. She showed us the pesticide bottle: “Badal 76” it read. We had seen it many times in that area already – Panchkhal just east of Kathmandu – and in other parts of the country too. In fact, under different names, it’s been one of the most sprayed in the world. The active ingredient in Badal is a real killer. Meet: Dichlorvos!

Dichlorvos kills everything with six legs and wings that likes to suck or chew on things. The housefly drops dead within the hour. So do most beetles, larvae, and other “crop eaters”. Thulimaya still had the bottle insert to show it. The snippet read: “Badal instantly kills the sucking and chewing insects such as Plant hoppers, Semi-looper, Red pumpkin beetle, Painted bugs, Leaf folder, Cut worm, Army worm…” The list of insects went on and on! Badal is sprayed on anything from paddy and wheat to sugarcane and soybean – whereever all the bugs like to feed. Thulimaya took the cannister on her back and got started with it. “Obviously it’s very useful to us – and pretty safe too”, she explained. More…

Hybrid seed production in Nepal: USAID video…

It is estimated that nearly 1600 tons of hybrid seeds are imported to Nepal every year. That’s a sizeable dependency on foreign seed suppliers! So, USAID – in its support for the use of hybrid seeds in the country – has started to promote local hybrid seed production. Watch the video opposite to learn the details: USAID’s Nepal Economic Agriculture and Trade (NEAT) Activity supports SEAN Seed Service Centre (SSSC) who not only initiates local farmers into growing hybrid seeds but also collects the seeds, upgrade and package them. The hybrid seeds are then sold to seed vendors who sell on to farmers…

“Improved technologies, such as hybrid seeds, are crucial to improving productivity in [agriculture] in Nepal.” Narrator’s comment in the USAID video above.