Nepal lockdown chance for self-sufficiency in veggies

For a country endowed with the ideal climate for a large variety of organic vegetables, Nepal should have been an exporter of greens. But last year the country imported Rs14.6 billion worth of vegetables from India and China.

“No country wastes its own production capacity to buy from outside, Nepal must also move in that direction,” says economic Keshav Acharya.

After the lockdown went into effect on 24 March, movement restriction within Nepal has meant that vegetable farmers have not been able to easily transport their produce to market, while vegetable imports from India have not been affected.

Many farmers in Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavre have let their produce to rot in the fields because of the restrictions due to the lockdown. But even without the lockdown, vegetables production has remained low due to out-migration, and cheaper imports.

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Up to half of the vegetables consumed in Nepal used to be imported from India. And even during the lockdown, a quarter of the vegetables sold at the Kalimati wholesale bazaar in Kathmandu is from India even though the vegetable production season in Nepal has started.

Even though imported Indian vegetables need to be tested for pesticide residue, the screening has been suspended since the lockdown began. However, India continues to make it difficult for Nepal’s agriculture exports by locating its pesticide testing centres far from the border.

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Binay Shrestha of the committee managing the market says that before the lockdown, the market used to get about 800 tons of vegetables every day, but in the past two months it only gets half that because of the drop in demand due to the closure of hotels and restaurants and many people leaving the Valley for the districts.

“The fact that imports from India have not been replaced by domestic production is a policy failure of the government,” says agronomist Krishna Paudel. “It is a direct result of the government abdicating its responsibility of supporting farmers and leaving them at the mercy of middlemen.”

The government has designated ‘pocket areas’ to pay special attention for potatoes, onions, lemon and other vegetables easily grown in the country but are imported in huge quantities from India and China. But production in the pocket areas have not really gone up.

Proof that protecting domestic farmers works is the case of Nepal’s goats. In mid-March 2019, the government tightened procedures involving the quarantine of imported livestock as per the Animal Health and Livestock Service Rules of 2000, resulting in a fall in import of goats from India.

Despite this leading to fears of a shortage in the market and increased prices, the domestic livestock industry managed to sustain the demand for goats, saving the country Rs3 billion. The move also boosted the domestic livestock industry, raising household income and creating jobs.

Meanwhile, Nepal imported Rs 2.7 billion worth of just onions last year. Rs460 million worth of lemon was imported from India. There is no conceivable reason why Nepal should be importing potatoes, but domestic production just does not meet demand.

Read also:

Nepal’s future normal, Anil Chitrakar

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