Decision to use herbicide in wheat production by the farm households in Nepal: A probit regression analysis

The use of herbicides in wheat production is increasing in Nepal mainly due to labor shortage and higher wage rates, even if available. However, little information is available on what factors determine the use of herbicides. This study explored the major factors that affect the decision to use herbicide by the wheat farmers. The semi-structured interview schedule was administered to 343 farmers from four major wheat-growing districts. The study employed a probit regression model to identify the factors that influenced the decision to use herbicides. Educations, membership, migration, wheat cultivated area, amount of urea use were identified as the significant factors influencing the decision of farmers to use herbicides. Herbicides user farmers produced 220 kg more wheat grain yield from one hectare of land compared to non-users. This study suggests that the wheat yield of Nepal could be increased through adopting better weed management techniques

Economics of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production in terai region of Nepal

Potato is an important cash crop of Nepal. Research was conducted from January to May, 2018 in Jhapa, Bara and Kailali districts for economic assessment of potato production in terai region of Nepal. Pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the primary information; moreover, one Focal Group Discussion and two Key Informant Interviews were performed. Furthermore, relevant literatures were reviewed for secondary information. The simple random method of sampling was used within the clusters that were identified in consultation with District Agriculture Development Office, Potato Superzone Office and agricultural officials of the local government. Altogether, 165 samples, 55 samples from each of the three districts were taken for the purpose of the study. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel software were used for data analysis. The majority of the respond-ents (52.7%) prioritized the source-Own home production/ Neighbors/ Friends as the first major source for seed followed by Cooperatives/ Farmer’s group (20%). More than one third of the farmers (35.2%) sold their produce at Home/Local market/Haatbazar followed by Wholesalers/ Distant market (34.5%). The average gross margin per Kattha from potato production was found NRs. 6604.4 and benefit cost ratio was 2.13. The indexing identified- lack of availability of improved quality seed (I= 0.79) as the most important problem followed by incidence of disease and insect/pest (I= 0.71) for potato production. The provision of technical knowledge to control diseases as well as proper allocation of improved quality seed would help to increase profitability and productivity of potato

Technical efficiency of wheat growing farmers of Nepal

Wheat is a major staple food crop of Nepal, so it is necessary to increase its productivity. However, the national average wheat productivity of Nepal is low as compared to other neighboring countries. This study employed a Cobb-Douglas stochastic production frontier model to examine the technical efficiency and its determinants using randomly selected household data from 343 wheat farmers from four districts of Nepal. Maximum likelihood estimation results showed that wheat production responded positively to an increase in the quantity of inorganic fertilizer, whereas it was detrimental to seed rate. Likewise, the study found that farmers were not technically efficient with a mean technical efficiency of 81%. The result showed irrigation, herbicides, sowing time, Farm Yard Manure (FYM), and wheat varieties were statistically significant factors that affect the technical efficiency of wheat farmers. Furthermore, to increase wheat productivity, farmers should use better irrigation, appropriate weed management practices, optimum sowing time, and adoption of recent improved varieties. Findings suggest that the technical efficiency of wheat farmers could be enhanced by practicing optimum use of inputs and improving the inefficiency factor

Technical efficiency of rice production in terai district of Nepal

   This paper aimed to estimate the technical efficiency of rice production, also identifying the factors affecting technical efficiency. Jhapa, the Terai district of Nepal, having the highest rice production in the country, was purposely selected for the study. The primary information was collected from 100 rice growing farmers, randomly selected from the sampling frame, using the pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule. Also, two Key Informant Surveys were done. Besides, the secondary information was collected by reviewing the related literatures. Descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier model with Cobb-Douglas production function, and tobit model were used for data analysis. The stochastic production frontier model revealed that with the increase in seed, chemical fertilizer, human labor, and tractor power by 1 percent, the rice yield increases by 0.25 (P<0.05), 0.15 (P<0.01), 0.13 (P<0.05) and 0.21 (P<0.01) percent respectively. The average technical efficiency of the rice growing farmers in the study area was estimated 92%; in addition, majority of the farmers (62%) were operating at an efficiency level of 0.91- 0.95 followed by 32% at 0.86- 0.90. The tobit regression model revealed that farming experience (P<0.01), membership of the organization (P<0.01), and major occupation being agriculture (P<0.05) have statistically significant and positive on technical efficiency; while, schooling years (P<0.05) and number of economically active family members (P<0.05) have statistically significant but negative effect. There is still scope to increase the rice yield through efficient use of available resources with existing technologies

Economics of production and marketing of wheat in Rupandehi district of Nepal

Wheat is the third most important cereal crop of Nepal after rice and maize in terms of area. The study on profitability and marketing of wheat was conducted in the Rupandehi district in 2019. The household survey, focus group discussion, interview with the individual market actors such as input suppliers, producers, collectors, wholesalers, millers, and retailers in selected clusters was carried out. The study showed that the Benefit-Cost Ratio of wheat production (BCR) was 1.87. The marketing margins at three different levels of marketing farm-wholesale, wholesale-retail, and farm-retail were also analyzed. The farm-retail marketing margin was found highest (31.42%) and the farm-wholesale marketing margins were less (15.78%). The producers’ share in consumer price was 68.5% and the total gross margin was 56.36%.  This showed if value-added activities are absent in the chain, the shorter chain can provide a higher margin to farmers by bypassing the intermediaries

Adoption of improved wheat varieties in eastern and western Terai of Nepal

The research was conducted from March to May 2019 for assessment on adoption of improved wheat varieties in two major wheat growing districts of Nepal, Sunsari, and Kailali; one representing eastern and another western Terai. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the primary information; in addition, two Key Informant Surveys were performed. Furthermore, relevant literatures were reviewed for secondary information. The simple random method of sampling was used within the selected areas that were identified in consultation with Agriculture Knowledge Centre and agricultural officials of the local government. Altogether, 194 samples were taken for the purpose of the study, omitting the outliers and incomplete responses. Descriptive statistics, probit regression, and indexing were used for data analysis. Probit econometric model revealed that membership dummy (1% level), age (1% level) number of family members involved in agriculture (1% level), subsidy dummy (5% level), number of schooling years (5%) and loan dummy (10% level) significantly determined the adoption of improved wheat varieties developed after NARC establishment. Furthermore, indexing identified- lack of availability of quality improved seeds (I= 0.80) as the major problem associated with the wheat production followed by poor availability of fertilizers (0.77), labour shortage (0.57), lack of proper irrigation (0.46) and lack of agricultural machines (0.39). The government agricultural institutions should assure access to quality seeds and fertilizers to the farmers; in addition, subsidy on irrigation and agricultural machines allied with agricultural loan to the educated youths could be the point of attraction  for wheat cultivation which leads to increased wheat productivity

Socio-economics of wheat production in Kailali and Sunsari districts of Nepal

For socio-economic assessment on wheat production, research was conducted from March to June, 2019 in two major wheat growing districts of Nepal, Kailai and sunsari. The primary information was collected by face to face interview using the pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule, two Key Informant Surveys were also done.In addition, the secondary information were collected from the review of related literatures. The survey areas were selected by consultating with Agriculture Knowledge Centre and agricultural officials of the local government; sample were selected by using simple random sampling. All total, 194 samples were selected for this study; the outliers and incomplete responses were omitted. The descriptive statistics revealed that Nepal 297 (66.16 %) has the highest area coverage in Sunsari while Gautam (36.50%) has the highest coverage in Kailali. Multiple regression model revealed that wheat cultivated area (p= 0.000), adoption of NARC released varieties (p= 0.000), gender of the household head (p= 0.017), age of the household head (p= 0.040), membership of organization (p= 0.094) and number of family members between age group 15 to 59 years (p= 0.085) have significant effect on wheat production. Furthermore, the unpaired t-test showed that the mean productivity of wheat in Kailali (2.99 Mt./ha) is significantly higher than that of Sunsari (2.81t./ha) at 5% level of significance. To increase the wheat productivity, the concerned government agricultural institutions should: assure access to NARC released improved varieties, make policy to consolidate the fragmented land, encourage the economically active population and the household heads towards wheat production by providing the efficient technical and financial support

Adoption of certain improved varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in seven different provinces of Nepal

This study used farm level data to analyze the adoption of improved wheat varieties in Nepal. The seven districts each having the highest wheat area coverage in their respective provinces was selected. Pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the primary information. The relevant literatures were reviewed for secondary information. The simple random method of sampling was used and 651 samples were taken. Descriptive statistics, probit regression and indexing were applied. This study showed that 94.1% of the area was covered by the improved wheat varieties, while 3.3% by local and 2.6% by the Indian varieties. In addition, of the improved varieties, NL 297 had the highest area coverage (30.88 %) followed by Vijay (23.24%), Gautam (12.95%), NL 971 (8.94%) and Aditya (5.34%) respectively. Probit econometric model revealed that membership of organization (1% level of significance), subsidy by the government (1% level), gender of the household head (5% level) and family member in foreign employment (10%) significantly determined the adoption of improved wheat varieties developed after NARC establishment. The indexing identified and ranked- lack of availability of quality improved seeds (I= 0.75) as the first followed by poor availability of fertilizers (0.65), labour shortage (0.61), lack of proper irrigation (0.55) and lack of agricultural machines (0.45) that were associated wheat production in study site. The concerned government institutions should assure the availability of quality improved seeds and fertilizers to the farmers; the subsidy on irrigation and agricultural machines allied with financial grant could attract the farmers towards wheat cultivation which ultimately contributes to increase wheat productivity

Returns to Potato Research Investment in Nepal

Agricultural research plays a significant role in increment in productivity and contributes to food security. Very few studies on the impact of public research spending on different sectors and commodities in Nepal has been documented. This study was designed to estimate the adoption lags of improved potato varieties and benefits generated by potato improvement research in Nepal. More specifically, the study answers two basic questions: (i) whether investment in potato research is justifiable? and (ii) how long is it taking to replace old improved varieties? We took public annual potato research investments of Nepal from the Fiscal year 2001 to 2017 from Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). The household survey was carried out to estimate the potato varieties coverage in Nepal in 2017. Other secondary data were sourced from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agricultural and Livestock Development, FAO stat, Nepal Rastra Bank and NARC to complement the analysis. We have used a simple economic framework to estimate the benefits generated from agricultural research. The estimated benefit and cost streams were used to calculate Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) and Net Present Value (NPV).  Results showed that the majority of the potato researchers had done research related to crop husbandry (seed production and crop managements); while the limited number of researchers had specialized in breeding activities. The annual growth rate of potato productivity was 214.49 kg per annum per ha which had increased at the rate of 1.76 percent per annum compound growth rate. The results revealed that the average weighted age of improved potato varieties was 21.83 years and each NPR. investment on potato research has given 508 NPR. and NPR. 13760 million NPV at a 12 percent discount factor during the last 17 years. Similarly, the contribution of potato research to GDP and AGDP was found 0.323% and 0.989% respectively. Therefore, future investment and focus should be concentrated on potato research and scaling up activities, and reducing variety adoption lag to obtain additional benefits from potato research investment