Structural stagnation in agriculture

One thing is certain - the previous government and the current government are also confused in the direction of preparing the basis for structural changes in the Nepalese economy. How to use the budget in the areas of 'defined development' and infrastructure is certainly under debate, but there is a realistic analysis and attempt to take risks on how to intervene in agriculture and industry (backward and forward linkages), which are the main drivers to free the Nepali economy from structural bonds. not visible This article will basically discuss how to intervene in the existing structural crisis in the agricultural sector and how it can activate backward and forward linkages. Here, the mountain agriculture which is basically becoming problematic for a long time will be taken in reference.

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Born in a farmer's family, growing up grazing cattle, working in the field and helping my mother in the agricultural work until the age of 30, for me, like many others, the joys and sorrows of the agricultural sector and its class character are self-acquired knowledge. During that time, I also have experience in arable fields, Bause, Ropahar, Dain-Daira, Biubad, Pakho and irrigated fields, Khabari and forestry, Kulo and irrigation or Bhalchopuwa and Gairhi. I am also involved in Charicharan, Panipandhero, Public and Private Forestry, Paddy Straw, Wage Labour, Hull Bull and Pareli, Oramparm, Potato, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Fruits, Maize, Millet, Kaguno and Wheat. I, like many others, have my own experiences and observations on issues such as the difference in access to natural resources between Dalits and non-Dalits, differences in male-female labor, animal husbandry and food culture linked to family agriculture.

As a student of political economy, wherever I go, I observe local economic activities and prospects and analyze them raw-ripe. Lately, while studying about the land relations and its utilization and other local level development work in Nepal's mountains and Terai, there was also an opportunity to observe the changes in agriculture at the local level.

When you go to the village, you can see many stages of progress and decline in Nepal's agricultural sector. It is not as bad as it is rumored, nor does it seem to have found a way to progress. There have been some positive efforts on the part of the government, community and family. From Jumla to Solu, apple cultivation, cardamom, lemons, milk, Jumli Marsi, Chino, Kaguno, Gundruk, Asla fish, coffee, oranges, Belaunti, avocado or unadi rice, masyura and pindalu have been used in many products such as opportunities created by the market (demand side). is The market has been created from the supply side of forest products like Niuro, Kafal, Ainselu, Tusa Tama. Nepal's market has been integrated to a level never seen before. With the expansion of transportation facilities, the products from Taplejung to Darchula have started getting market, the market has also intervened in it. Internet and mobile have started to be used in demand supply and pricing of agricultural produce. Along with the use of the market, there has also been considerable misuse of government efforts. However, agriculture as the main employment sector has not played the role it should have in the overall economy and the farm-based household. Resources are wasted and we lag far behind neighboring countries in per unit productivity. During this time, the main changes in agriculture can be seen as follows:-

First, the effects of demographic change are evident. The first vasectomy camp came to my village when I was in high school. I remember a big debate in the village. Some cousins ​​and siblings had vasectomy. As access to education and communication increased, the birth rate in villages gradually decreased. Even those who were initially put off by what they knew, heard, were attracted to vasectomy. The previous generation where a couple had eight to ten children has shrunk to two or three children. Even those who had four children to get a son are now satisfied with two daughters.

The second aspect is migration. When I was growing up, there were 26 houses of Bhai Khalak in my village. So far, at least 65 houses have been built in the village. Our brothers who migrated through Chitwan, Parasi, Bardia, Rautahat, Kathmandu and Pokhara now have seven houses in the village. Only children of two of them are studying in the village. There are five working age group. Only people of other mature generations are in that house. This picture is about many villages.

The hills previously lacked land to support the growing population. It was also physically difficult to make a living working together. Pani Pandhero, market, government headquarters were far away and sending schools to many villages was also a problem. At that time, Madhesh helped to level the mountain. Second, Lahure, retired from the British Army, the income provided by the opportunities available in Brunei helped to depopulate and urbanize hill villages. Thirdly, the impact of economic liberalization and globalization has given the youth new opportunities for foreign employment. Instead of being semi-employed or unemployed in the village, they went to work abroad to earn and make life easier. They also did not return to agriculture as much as possible, migrating from small hill markets to cities and semi-urban settlements around the East-West Highway. Thus the population of Madhyapahar continued to decline, creating a demographic imbalance. This migration and population distribution imbalance has had a great impact on the economic and political structure of Nepal.

At least one person of the working age group has gone abroad from home in some villages. In other words, there is a severe shortage of labor force in the village. When I was growing up, our household alone had at least 25 cattle, including bullocks, and a few goats. The forest was thinning out due to grazing in the forest and the need to bring wood from fallen trees to make shelters. Now nobody in my village keeps cows. There are a few goats, some oxen and buffaloes. Community forest has not been built in my village, but the forest has spread to the fields. Kharbari is all crushed. At least half the field is barren. Some of the fields that were planted earlier have been barren. There is a shortage of parm, parelli and khetala. Labor has become waged but it is still difficult to find people. Kaguno Masio, a farm that used to have two crops, now has one. Chaite rice is used very little. Even though the fields, fields and seeds are the same, yield and productivity have decreased. The field earned by Baama, which has charkhal corn stalks, fifteen muri of millet, two muri of mas, some pathi bodi, a few muri of ghee, ten muri of potato, some dharni tobacco, ten days of sugarcane is barren. No one is willing to farm and eat there.

The price of labor has increased. The rules of the market have been applied. After raising less cattle, it became necessary to buy chemical fertilizers and use them. Due to increasing labor cost, high cost of agricultural production materials and lack of necessary labor, the cost price of agricultural production in Madhyapahar is increasing. The rate of profit from farming has decreased. In this situation, there is a growing trend of keeping barren land and cultivating only one season. It has become difficult for the small and medium farmers to make the necessary efforts to earn a decent living by earning from agriculture. It is natural that the current family farming system has become more of a burden than a comfortable way of life. Lack of tillage, fragmented or sloping land, farming systems unfavorable for the use of modern machinery are slowly becoming structural obstacles that are pushing back the agricultural economy. That is, the agricultural sector is no longer able to sustain the traditional family farming system. This calls for a new alternative.

Another picture of the village is that the non-agricultural area is negligible except in some tourist areas. Remittances, teachers' salary-pension, small tea shops or eateries, local liquor shops, mobile shops, local wage labor like carpentry, carpentry are the only areas of non-agricultural activities. Even now, the basic character of agriculture remains traditional. When only a limited number of farmers start producing for the market, the income provided by small and medium family farming is barely sufficient for subsistence. It does not inspire any youth to pursue a life in agriculture. The per unit cost of such products is high but it cannot help the establishment and development of agro-based industries as it does not ensure the supply of the demand made by the industry and consumption (market) sector. Farmers with low income are also stuck in purchasing other consumer goods from the market and the demand for industrial products does not increase.

options include large agricultural farms

On October 5, 2018, the New York Times published a report by Michael Schumann on the transformation of Chinese agriculture. The report sent from Sanhui village is similar to the village in Nepal. As in Nepal, the new generation in China is not ready to stick to agriculture and make it the basis of life. There are people in the village who raised their children by farming in small plots and are now old. They are also unable to earn but their children have gone to the city in search of jobs. There is a shortage of labor but small-scale farming is becoming a hindrance to mechanization. It is not possible for farmers who cultivate less than three hectares of land to use modern equipment. It makes their work tiring and labor intensive. The cost of production also goes up.

A farmer in the village, with the help of his 27-year-old son who did not go to the city, leased barren land from the local government and increased the size of his farm. Added machines. Produced more at lower cost than before and made more money. Then he walked away to trick his neighbor. A farmer is earning two hectares of land. If he earns 5,000 yuan annually, this new farmer started renting the land by giving 5,000 yuan to the said farmer. Able farmers would be able to work for wages during the crop season. Resting his weary body and taking whatever he had earned from the land, the old farmer settled down at home. The new farmer kept adding machines and started making $80,000 a year. In this way, the lessor of the land is happy, and the lessee is also happy. The cost of agricultural production is low and productivity is high. Now the new farmer has 160 hectares of land and is adding more machines.

In any country adopting this market-based production system, only a small fraction of the total population is involved in agriculture. But productivity is higher. Agriculture-based industries flourish and employment is created. The demand of people increases and the demand for the products of the industrial sector also increases. This positive cycle increases the possibility of higher utilization of natural resources and manpower available within the country.

Now the barren land unit is increasing in the mountains (the cultivation of Sikles Tangting in Kaski's Madi 40 years ago and the current cultivation area can be an example). Farmers are still poor. There are no farms or industries to employ people and the available resources are not utilized. To reverse this, we must now go to large-scale farming.

The government can make an arrangement so that farmers who have barren land or those who leave the village are forced to rent their land for a certain period of time. A legal arrangement can be made such that the local municipality mediates between those who own land and those who want to rent it to make taxes or other policies. By providing incentives for people or companies who want to run a farm in a large area to buy machines or purchase necessary items to establish a farm, arrange tax breaks, provide long-term loans at low interest rates, and make the policy on import of agricultural products flexible to create a competitive environment for the product market. can be encouraged. By adopting a policy to encourage foreign companies or investors who want to come to farm in large areas to work together with Nepali investors, technology and managerial knowledge will be transferred. A policy can be taken to encourage foreign investment who want to work together with Nepali investors.

The apple farm operated by Agro Manang Company in Polten Chopang, Manang is a fresh and dynamic example of this. Nepali investors are involved in such farming in a modern way and they have made huge profits. According to the 2017 report, this farm made a net profit of 26 million in that year alone. Such arrangements can be made in orange, kiwi, avocado or other fruit crops. Ranga or Bangur farms can be opened targeting the Chinese market, where it has immense market potential. This is also confirmed by the fact that one of the points of agreement reached during the recent visit of the Prime Minister to China included a reference to the export of raw meat. The technique and political leadership that does not take the risk of changing the situation in agriculture and land the budget, we will not only take the risk of changing the situation in agriculture and land. We will not be able to break the structural obstruction in the economy. It is possible only through the entrance of the big farms in the agriculture of its plaquen mid-trait and Terai agriculture. Whether from the farmers or from the company or from the company, from the private sector with large investors. This is also a mandatory condition for sustainable development and deception of small family agriculture, if the weapons of irrelection.