Narayan Prasad Khanal

Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties in the Tarai Region of Nepal

Rice is the most important cereal crop of Nepal from the perspectives of food security and livelihood. In spite of this, its yield is quite low and there is still wide gap between potential and national average rice yields. One of the reasons for this is poor adoption of improved rice varieties in farming communities. In this chapter, we analyzed the status of improved rice varieties adoption, sources of improved rice varieties in the farming communities, and influence of socio-economic variables on the adoption of improved rice varieties. The data for the study was collected from 180 households covering three Tarai districts, Siraha, Chitwan and Kailali, of Nepal from October to November 2011. A binary logistic regression was employed to analyze the data, and the adoption of improved varieties was defined from the perspective of whether farmers buy seed from the market or not. The result shows that, in 72.7 % of cases, farmers adopt improved varieties, and these varieties consist of both modern varieties and farmers’ varieties. Farmers buy these varieties from various sources though neighboring farmers and agrovet are the most popular sources. Farmers’ behavior in adopting these varieties is mainly explained by irrigation facility, household’s membership in community-based organizations, and seed price.

Technical Efficiency in Wheat Seed Production : A Case Study from Tarai Region of Nepal

In this paper, we measured the technical efficiency of wheat seed growers and identified the socio-economic variables influencing the efficiency. The data for the study were collected from three Tarai districts: Siraha, Chitwan and Kailali, representing eastern, central and far-western development regions of Nepal. Field survey was carried out in 180 households, representing 60 from each of the above districts. Stochastic frontier production model was estimated to measure the technical efficiency of farmers using crop yield as dependent variable against five inputs: source seed, labor, chemical fertilizer, livestock and operational land. The result shows the average efficiency of farmers in mobilizing above five inputs is 78.3% ranging from 38.6% to 94.6%. It means farmers could still increase their efficiency by 21.7% in wheat seed production. Nine socio-economic variables were regressed against technical efficiency score (as dependent variables) to identify their influence on technical efficiency, and the result shows that access to public irrigation source, and land quality have significant positive influence on technical efficiency. This shows that promotion of public irrigation scheme and land quality management measures should be prioritized in the agricultural extension policy to enhance efficiency of farmers in wheat seed production.

Socio-economic Determinants for the Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties in the Tarai Region of Nepal

Rice is the most important cereal crop of Nepal from food security and livelihood perspectives. In spite of this, the yield of this crop is quite low and there is wide gap between potential and national average yield. One of the reasons behind it is poor adoption of improved rice varieties in the farming communities. In this article, we analyzed the influence of socio-economic variables on the adoption of these varieties. The data for the study were collected from 180 households spreading across three tarai districts: Siraha, Chitwan and Kailali of Nepal from October to November 2011. A binary logistic regression was employed to analyze the data, and the adoption of improved varieties was defined from the perspective of whether farmers buy seed from the market or not. The result shows that in 72.7% of cases farmers adopt improved variety, and these varieties consist of both modern varieties and farmers’ varieties. Farmers’ behavior in adopting these varieties is mainly explained by irrigation facility, household’s membership in community-based organizations (CBOs), and seed price. The findings from this research might have implications in the agriculture extension policy of Nepal and other developing countries.

Factors influencing farmers’ behavior in rice seed selling in the market: a case study in the Tarai region of Nepald

The importance of rice in food security and livelihoods of Nepalese people is well recognized but the seed supply system of this crop in the rural areas is poorly developed. To increase farmers’ access to a wide range of rice varietal choices in a cost effective way, some farmers, organized in groups or cooperatives, have started producing and marketing rice seed through development projects in recent years. But very limited information has been published about the performance of the farmers in rice seed marketing. In this study, we analyze the impact of households’ socio-economic variables on market participation and volume of rice seed sold, using a Heckman selection model. Data for the study were collected from three Tarai districts (Siraha, Kailali and Chitwan) in Nepal with a sample size of 180, that is, 60 households from each district. Result shows that 65% of households sell 64% of rice seed produced. Households with agricultural training, share contribution to their organization and higher livestock numbers are more likely to participate in the market. Similarly, households with older household heads, higher operational land, and access to an irrigation facility sell a higher amount of rice seed in the market. Seed price has a positive influence both on market participation and seed volume sold.

Soil Conservation Practices for Sustainability of Rice-wheat System in Nepal : A Review

Declining crop productivity and environmental pollution are two key issues associated with sustainability of rice-wheat system in Nepal. The former one is related to declining soil organic matter and shortage of water as well as laborer; whereas, the latter is due to emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from this system. This article reviews the potential of soil conservation practices, especially organic matter and zero-tillage, against these two issues in rice-wheat system of Nepal. Farm Yard Manure (FYM), compost and green manure are the major sources of organic matters in rice-wheat system in Nepal. The organic matter improves the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil; and contributes in minimizing GHG emission. Adoption of biogas technology, improved FYM/compost and spring season green manure crops hold enormous potential to minimize GHGs emission from rice-wheat system. Similarly, zero-tillage reduces the cost of cultivation, allows early planting of wheat, reduces water requirement and increases the crop yield by 16-50 % as compared to conventional tillage. This practice also reduces the consumption of fossil fuel (up to 64 %) by reducing the tillage requirement, and minimizes the oxidation of soil organic matter, thereby contributing in the GHGs mitigation. The other options contributing to the above two issues are water, land, and fertilizer management, and upland rice varieties. This review shows that the integration of the above options would contribute in sustainability of the production system and environmental but more understanding is needed regarding the applicability of the zerotillage using seed drill in wheat under different geographical and socio-economic contexts of Nepal given the limited studies available. Narayan Prasad KHANAL, Keshav Lall MAHARJAN and Dharma Raj DANGOL 12

Role of Organizational Governance in Household Level Economic Indicators : Evidence from Community-Based Rice Seed Production of Nepal

Organizations are the role-oriented institutions, and in economic sense they tend to contribute in generating benefit to their members by minimizing costs in input and output marketing. With this notion, development agencies have been strengthening local farmer-owned organizations in community-based rice seed production system in developing countries where private seed companies and government corporations have not been successful to supply diverse rice varieties in cheap price. In spite of the great potential of these farmers’ organizations, the performance of these institutions is poorly understood. This paper measured the governance of these organizations and analyzes how organizational governance indicators (participation, business plan, incentive system and linkage) contribute on household level economic indicators (technical efficiency and proportion of rice seed sold by household in the market). Data for the study were collected from the three Tarai districts: Siraha, Chitwan and Kailali of Nepal. Four community-based rice seed producer organizations with 15 households from each of these organizations were chosen for the study. The economic indicators were estimated using household data whereas governance indicators through group discussion and documentary study. The impact of governance indicators on economic indicators was estimated by simple linear regression technique. Result shows that there is wide variability of economic and governance indicators across the organizations and there is positive impact of governance indicators on both economic indicators. However, the degree of impact of these indicators on proportion of rice seed sold is higher as compared to that of technical efficiency. Moreover, organizations with higher educated leaders have better governance indicators. It means facilitation of these organizations for selecting/developing higher educated leaders is important for enhancing organizational governance, which also contributes on economic benefits at household level.

Rice–Wheat Farming at a Glance

The rice-wheat (R-W) farming system supplies 45 % of the digestible energy and 30 % of the total protein requirements of the world. This system is popular in the Indo-Gangetic plain and is being extended to different parts of the world to address increasing food demands. This system also holds enormous potential for intensification and diversification of croplands in tropical and subtropical regions. Although there was a substantial increment in rice and wheat production in the world after the Green Revolution, the yield of these crops has been stagnant in recent years. Major reasons for this are declining soil organic matter, increasing production costs, erratic weather patterns, and poor access to quality seeds of the varieties preferred by farmers in rural areas.

Farmers’ Behavior in Buying Rice and Wheat Seed from Market

The market has a significant role in the success of any economic intervention, including seed production. So, it is important to analyze the characteristics of potential consumers and their behavior in buying seed from markets while assessing the performance of community seed production. This chapter analyzes the impact of socioeconomic characteristics in household behavior in buying rice and wheat seed. A set of demographic, economic, and institutional variables was tested for their impact on the probability of buying rice and wheat seed from markets by using a binary logistic model. Data obtained from 180 households spread across the three Tarai districts of Nepal were used in the analysis. Results show that 72 % of households buy rice seed from the market whereas 62 % buy wheat seed. Most households buy at least two rice varieties but only one variety of wheat. Household behavior in buying seed is mainly influenced by education, operational holding, irrigation facility, household membership in farmers’ groups and cooperatives, and seed price.

A Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Community Seed Production

Sustainability issues in community seed production have emerged from economic and environmental routes, but the first approach is more common. Concerns associated with the economic route are marginality, artificiality, and poor capacity. Marginality indicates that farmers involved in community seed production mostly reside in remote areas with poor communication, transportation, and government services. Similarly, development project motivation for farmers without entrepreneurship skills to engage in seed production raises an artificiality issue. The third concern is related to the engagement of poor and smallholder farmers in seed production. The environmental concern is how to prioritize local landraces instead of modern varieties in seed production. This chapter proposes a framework for analyzing the sustainability of community seed production from the perspective of how seed producers realize the benefit and how that benefit is sustained. Household efficiency in seed production and marketing indicates economic benefit, adoption of soil conservation practices shows environmental performance, and organizational governance indicates social performance.

Adoption of Soil Conservation Practices in Rice–Wheat Farming

Soil conservation practices harmonize economic, social, and environmental benefits for the rice-wheat farming system. This chapter analyzes the influence of socioeconomic factors on the adoption of existing soil conservation practices in community seed production. Potential environmental and social benefits are linked with economic gain as these benefits have time and risk questions to be realized by smallholder farmers. Data for the study were collected from 180 seed growers across the three Tarai districts of Nepal. Major soil conservation practices used in the rice-wheat cropping system are animal manure, zero tillage, and green manure. A multivariate probit model was run to identify the influence of socioeconomic factors on the adoption of zero tillage, green manure, and other practices. The result shows that households having less family labor, more operational land, and a higher risk aversion characteristic are more likely to adopt the zero-tillage practice. Similarly, those having access to an irrigation facility are more likely to adopt green manure crops. Irrigation facility, training, and risk aversion characteristic have a significant positive impact on the other practices whereas application of chemical fertilizers has significant negative impact on them.