Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is the fourth most important crop in Nepal having ... more Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is the fourth most important crop in Nepal having multiple benefits but is still neglected by mainstream research and development. The main option to boost its productivity is developing superior varieties through enhanced use of germplasm in breeding programmes. With the objective of enhancing utilization of landraces conserved ex situ, a total of 300 finger millet accessions collected from 54 districts were characterized in three hill locations of Nepal for two consecutive years (2017–2018). Nine qualitative and 17 quantitative traits were recorded, and combined mean data were subjected to multivariate analysis to assess agromorphological diversity. Shannon–Weaver diversity indices (H') showed high diversity (0.647–0.908) among the accessions for qualitative traits except for finger branching and spikelet shattering whereas high diversity (0.864–0.907) was observed for all quantitative traits. The first five principal components (...
The present study analyses the gaps and issues in the production and distribution system of potat... more The present study analyses the gaps and issues in the production and distribution system of potato seeds in Nepal. Households’ survey combined with focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KII) were carried out to collect the information. Gross benefit and descriptive statistics were employed for the analysis of the data. Results revealed that National Potato Research Program (NPRP) and some private companies were responsible for the zero generation Pre-Basic Seeds (PBS) production. National Centre for Potato, Vegetables and Spice Crops Development Program (NCPVSCDP) collects the seed demand and helps in potato seed certification at the farmers’ level. The current production is inadequate to meet the demand. As the present potato productivity is 16.72 mt ha-1 which is less than projected by National Seed Vision (NSV), reducing the yield gap is one of the important ways to meet the demand. The Gross benefit per hectare of first-generation basic potato seed (BS1) w...
Three hundred finger millet genotypes (295 landraces from 54 districts and five released varietie... more Three hundred finger millet genotypes (295 landraces from 54 districts and five released varieties) were evaluated for leaf, finger, and neck blast resistance under natural epiphytotic conditions across three hill locations in Nepal, namely Kabre, Dolakha (1740m); Vijaynagar, Jumla (2350 m); and Khumaltar, Lalitpur (1360 m) during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018. The highest incidence of leaf, neck, and finger blast was observed at Lalitpur, followed by Dolakha and Jumla, whereas the overall disease incidence was higher in 2018 compared to 2017. Combined analysis over environments revealed non-significant differences among accessions for leaf blast, but the difference was highly significant for neck and finger blast. Correlation analysis suggested that there was a strong positive correlation between neck blast and finger blast (r = 0.71), leaf blast (seedling stage) and neck blast (r = 0.68), and leaf blast (seedling stage) and finger blast (r = 0.58) diseases. Among 300 accessi...
This paper aims to analyze adoption patterns and extent of adoption of new generation modern vari... more This paper aims to analyze adoption patterns and extent of adoption of new generation modern varieties (MVs) of rice focusing on household survey of 1900 farmers in 19 stress-prone rainfed districts of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The data for this study was collected as a part of broader socioeconomic baseline studies of IRRI led STRASA project in South Asia. Adoption patterns and factors determining adoption of newer generation MVs and their farm level yield effects and profitability were assessed across sample households. The findings showed that a large proportion of farmers were adopting both old (released before 1990) and new generation (released after 1990) MVs in major portion of their rice area. However, newer generation MVs released after 1990s were adopted in less proportion of their rice farms in the wet season when rice production is often affected by climatic stresses such as drought, flooding and coastal salinity. The factors responsible for the low adoption in the ra...
International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 2020
A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost ... more A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost (BCA) analysis of small farm machineries (transplanter, reaper and power tiller) used for rice cultivation. Out of total respondents of 274 under mechanized farm category selected using Raosoft Software of sample size determination, 74% reaper owner (20), 67% power tiller owner (20) and 100% transplanter owner (09) were selected for analyzing benefit cost analysis using simple random sampling. BCA analysis showed that the NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback Period of investing in transplanter were NRs 452743.62, 1.61, 24% and 2.75 years at 12% discount rate respectively. Similarly, NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback period for reaper and power tiller were NRs 422541.93, 2.89, 123% and 1.14 years and NRs 619,719.34, 2.32, 65% and 1.46 years at 12% of discount rate respectively. The investment on reaper and power tiller would be profitable for their higher Benefit Cost ratio and IRR, and lower ...
Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, 2021
Rice is a principal food crop for ensuring national food security and improving the livelihoods o... more Rice is a principal food crop for ensuring national food security and improving the livelihoods of the people in Nepal. To understand and analyse temporal dynamics of rice production and import, a study was carried out by using secondary data during the period from 2009 to 2018. The objectives of the study were to analyses temporal changes and dynamics of rice production and import in Nepal. The study used Compound growth rate and Markov chain analysis to assess the pattern of temporal changes in production and import of rice in Nepal for the last one decade. The synthesis of the analysis is presented in both tabular and graphic forms. The results revealed that Nepal is importing rice in increasing trend and not being able to meet national demands despite some increase in rice production and productivity in the last decade. Imports of rice were found in four harmonized system codes from 18 countries and the value of rice import is mounting in recent years. In addition, Compound gr...
Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2011
This study analyzes the patterns of public resource allocation in rice research in Nepal. The res... more This study analyzes the patterns of public resource allocation in rice research in Nepal. The resource allocation for rice research was approximated based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) of researcher time spent on rice research. A simple congruence model modified by expected rate of research progress and equity criteria was used to investigate the gap between the actual and normative investment patterns across different types of rice production environments. The results show a substantial underinvestment in rice research in general but more so in rainfed areas and in the Terai agroecological zone. The use of modifiers amplified the extent of underinvestment in rainfed environments. The options for addressing these imbalances and the overall implications for resource allocation for rice research in Nepal are discussed.
Traditional crops cultivated and consumed over generations are important components of agrobiodiv... more Traditional crops cultivated and consumed over generations are important components of agrobiodiversity and support dietary diversity, productivity and livelihoods of marginalized populations in Nepal. This paper outlines the value of traditional nutrient dense crops to promote nutrition sensitive agriculture by exploiting rich biodiversity of these crops through nutrition sensitive value chain development. Use of traditional crop biodiversity for nutrition sensitive value chain development can play positive role by taking into consideration not only how diverse nutrient-dense foods are produced but also how they are processed, distributed, marketed and consumed to supply nutrient value for household nutrition security. However, presently value chains of biodiversity of traditional crops are weak, fragmented and not properly connected among sub-components of production, processing, marketing and consumption system. Considering this, focus of biodiversity-based value chain upgrading ...
The main objective of the study was to assess cost, returns and labor use status between mechaniz... more The main objective of the study was to assess cost, returns and labor use status between mechanized and traditional rice farms in the Tarai of Nepal. The study was conducted using multistage sampling technique in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts covering 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms. Farm budget analysis was used to compute the cost and yield returns from both type of rice farms. The study revealed that the per hectare average human labor used by traditional farm was significantly higher (141.6 man days/hectare) than mechanized rice farm (72.7 man days/per hectare). The per hectare average machine hour used in mechanized farm was 14.0 hours. Number of bullock labor required in traditional rice farm was more than 4 times higher than in mechanized rice farm and was significant. Per hectare total cost of production in mechanized and traditional farms was NRs 85,434.6 and NRs. 95,993.6, respectively and the mean difference was significant. The mechanized rice farm h...
The chapter analyzes the key issues and constraints in the seed sector in Nepal, which represents... more The chapter analyzes the key issues and constraints in the seed sector in Nepal, which represents one of the most important inputs for agricultural productivity growth. It analyzes the options and opportunities for improvement in the seed sector and identifies policy recommendations for this sector’s development. The chapter suggests that a clearly designed seed policy should be developed to create enabling environments for public–private partnership and provide coherence for a level playing field for the development of a dynamic, pluralistic and sustainable seed system in Nepal.
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2021
This study explores the relationship between climate variables to rice production in Kaski and Na... more This study explores the relationship between climate variables to rice production in Kaski and Nawalparasi district of Nepal. The study was conducted in the year 2016. This study captured the time series data ranging from 1995 to 2014 on rice production, temperature and rainfall of two different districts and analyzed through panel data regression. Regarding primary data collection, a total of 120 sampled households were surveyed by using simple random sampling to understand the perception of farmers to change in climatic parameters using a semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions. The secondary information was collected from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and Centre Bureau of Statistics. The regression model revealed that seasonal rainfall had a linear relation on rice production (p<0.05). Respondents from both districts perceived that temperature, rainfall and hailstone had increased or ...
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2020
The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage samp... more The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage sampling technique to assess the technical efficiency in rice production among mechanized and traditional farmers in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts. The Cobb-Douglas functional form of the stochastic production frontier was employed to obtain the technical efficiency in mechanized and traditional rice farms. The overall technical efficiency of the mechanized and traditional rice farm ranged from 40.31 to 92.23 and 31.21 to 85.02%t with the mean technical efficiency of 80.56 and 70.11% respectively. The scope of increasing output by adopting the technology adopted by the best performer was 19.44% in mechanized and 29.89% in traditional rice farm respectively. Majority of the farmers were operating at an efficiency level 70-80% and 60-70% in mechanized and traditional farms respectively. The average technical efficiency of mechanized rice farm was higher than that of traditional rice fa...
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is the fourth most important crop in Nepal having ... more Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is the fourth most important crop in Nepal having multiple benefits but is still neglected by mainstream research and development. The main option to boost its productivity is developing superior varieties through enhanced use of germplasm in breeding programmes. With the objective of enhancing utilization of landraces conserved ex situ, a total of 300 finger millet accessions collected from 54 districts were characterized in three hill locations of Nepal for two consecutive years (2017–2018). Nine qualitative and 17 quantitative traits were recorded, and combined mean data were subjected to multivariate analysis to assess agromorphological diversity. Shannon–Weaver diversity indices (H') showed high diversity (0.647–0.908) among the accessions for qualitative traits except for finger branching and spikelet shattering whereas high diversity (0.864–0.907) was observed for all quantitative traits. The first five principal components (...
The present study analyses the gaps and issues in the production and distribution system of potat... more The present study analyses the gaps and issues in the production and distribution system of potato seeds in Nepal. Households’ survey combined with focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KII) were carried out to collect the information. Gross benefit and descriptive statistics were employed for the analysis of the data. Results revealed that National Potato Research Program (NPRP) and some private companies were responsible for the zero generation Pre-Basic Seeds (PBS) production. National Centre for Potato, Vegetables and Spice Crops Development Program (NCPVSCDP) collects the seed demand and helps in potato seed certification at the farmers’ level. The current production is inadequate to meet the demand. As the present potato productivity is 16.72 mt ha-1 which is less than projected by National Seed Vision (NSV), reducing the yield gap is one of the important ways to meet the demand. The Gross benefit per hectare of first-generation basic potato seed (BS1) w...
Three hundred finger millet genotypes (295 landraces from 54 districts and five released varietie... more Three hundred finger millet genotypes (295 landraces from 54 districts and five released varieties) were evaluated for leaf, finger, and neck blast resistance under natural epiphytotic conditions across three hill locations in Nepal, namely Kabre, Dolakha (1740m); Vijaynagar, Jumla (2350 m); and Khumaltar, Lalitpur (1360 m) during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018. The highest incidence of leaf, neck, and finger blast was observed at Lalitpur, followed by Dolakha and Jumla, whereas the overall disease incidence was higher in 2018 compared to 2017. Combined analysis over environments revealed non-significant differences among accessions for leaf blast, but the difference was highly significant for neck and finger blast. Correlation analysis suggested that there was a strong positive correlation between neck blast and finger blast (r = 0.71), leaf blast (seedling stage) and neck blast (r = 0.68), and leaf blast (seedling stage) and finger blast (r = 0.58) diseases. Among 300 accessi...
This paper aims to analyze adoption patterns and extent of adoption of new generation modern vari... more This paper aims to analyze adoption patterns and extent of adoption of new generation modern varieties (MVs) of rice focusing on household survey of 1900 farmers in 19 stress-prone rainfed districts of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The data for this study was collected as a part of broader socioeconomic baseline studies of IRRI led STRASA project in South Asia. Adoption patterns and factors determining adoption of newer generation MVs and their farm level yield effects and profitability were assessed across sample households. The findings showed that a large proportion of farmers were adopting both old (released before 1990) and new generation (released after 1990) MVs in major portion of their rice area. However, newer generation MVs released after 1990s were adopted in less proportion of their rice farms in the wet season when rice production is often affected by climatic stresses such as drought, flooding and coastal salinity. The factors responsible for the low adoption in the ra...
International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 2020
A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost ... more A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost (BCA) analysis of small farm machineries (transplanter, reaper and power tiller) used for rice cultivation. Out of total respondents of 274 under mechanized farm category selected using Raosoft Software of sample size determination, 74% reaper owner (20), 67% power tiller owner (20) and 100% transplanter owner (09) were selected for analyzing benefit cost analysis using simple random sampling. BCA analysis showed that the NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback Period of investing in transplanter were NRs 452743.62, 1.61, 24% and 2.75 years at 12% discount rate respectively. Similarly, NPV, B/C ratio, IRR and Payback period for reaper and power tiller were NRs 422541.93, 2.89, 123% and 1.14 years and NRs 619,719.34, 2.32, 65% and 1.46 years at 12% of discount rate respectively. The investment on reaper and power tiller would be profitable for their higher Benefit Cost ratio and IRR, and lower ...
Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, 2021
Rice is a principal food crop for ensuring national food security and improving the livelihoods o... more Rice is a principal food crop for ensuring national food security and improving the livelihoods of the people in Nepal. To understand and analyse temporal dynamics of rice production and import, a study was carried out by using secondary data during the period from 2009 to 2018. The objectives of the study were to analyses temporal changes and dynamics of rice production and import in Nepal. The study used Compound growth rate and Markov chain analysis to assess the pattern of temporal changes in production and import of rice in Nepal for the last one decade. The synthesis of the analysis is presented in both tabular and graphic forms. The results revealed that Nepal is importing rice in increasing trend and not being able to meet national demands despite some increase in rice production and productivity in the last decade. Imports of rice were found in four harmonized system codes from 18 countries and the value of rice import is mounting in recent years. In addition, Compound gr...
Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2011
This study analyzes the patterns of public resource allocation in rice research in Nepal. The res... more This study analyzes the patterns of public resource allocation in rice research in Nepal. The resource allocation for rice research was approximated based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) of researcher time spent on rice research. A simple congruence model modified by expected rate of research progress and equity criteria was used to investigate the gap between the actual and normative investment patterns across different types of rice production environments. The results show a substantial underinvestment in rice research in general but more so in rainfed areas and in the Terai agroecological zone. The use of modifiers amplified the extent of underinvestment in rainfed environments. The options for addressing these imbalances and the overall implications for resource allocation for rice research in Nepal are discussed.
Traditional crops cultivated and consumed over generations are important components of agrobiodiv... more Traditional crops cultivated and consumed over generations are important components of agrobiodiversity and support dietary diversity, productivity and livelihoods of marginalized populations in Nepal. This paper outlines the value of traditional nutrient dense crops to promote nutrition sensitive agriculture by exploiting rich biodiversity of these crops through nutrition sensitive value chain development. Use of traditional crop biodiversity for nutrition sensitive value chain development can play positive role by taking into consideration not only how diverse nutrient-dense foods are produced but also how they are processed, distributed, marketed and consumed to supply nutrient value for household nutrition security. However, presently value chains of biodiversity of traditional crops are weak, fragmented and not properly connected among sub-components of production, processing, marketing and consumption system. Considering this, focus of biodiversity-based value chain upgrading ...
The main objective of the study was to assess cost, returns and labor use status between mechaniz... more The main objective of the study was to assess cost, returns and labor use status between mechanized and traditional rice farms in the Tarai of Nepal. The study was conducted using multistage sampling technique in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts covering 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms. Farm budget analysis was used to compute the cost and yield returns from both type of rice farms. The study revealed that the per hectare average human labor used by traditional farm was significantly higher (141.6 man days/hectare) than mechanized rice farm (72.7 man days/per hectare). The per hectare average machine hour used in mechanized farm was 14.0 hours. Number of bullock labor required in traditional rice farm was more than 4 times higher than in mechanized rice farm and was significant. Per hectare total cost of production in mechanized and traditional farms was NRs 85,434.6 and NRs. 95,993.6, respectively and the mean difference was significant. The mechanized rice farm h...
The chapter analyzes the key issues and constraints in the seed sector in Nepal, which represents... more The chapter analyzes the key issues and constraints in the seed sector in Nepal, which represents one of the most important inputs for agricultural productivity growth. It analyzes the options and opportunities for improvement in the seed sector and identifies policy recommendations for this sector’s development. The chapter suggests that a clearly designed seed policy should be developed to create enabling environments for public–private partnership and provide coherence for a level playing field for the development of a dynamic, pluralistic and sustainable seed system in Nepal.
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2021
This study explores the relationship between climate variables to rice production in Kaski and Na... more This study explores the relationship between climate variables to rice production in Kaski and Nawalparasi district of Nepal. The study was conducted in the year 2016. This study captured the time series data ranging from 1995 to 2014 on rice production, temperature and rainfall of two different districts and analyzed through panel data regression. Regarding primary data collection, a total of 120 sampled households were surveyed by using simple random sampling to understand the perception of farmers to change in climatic parameters using a semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions. The secondary information was collected from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and Centre Bureau of Statistics. The regression model revealed that seasonal rainfall had a linear relation on rice production (p<0.05). Respondents from both districts perceived that temperature, rainfall and hailstone had increased or ...
Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2020
The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage samp... more The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage sampling technique to assess the technical efficiency in rice production among mechanized and traditional farmers in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts. The Cobb-Douglas functional form of the stochastic production frontier was employed to obtain the technical efficiency in mechanized and traditional rice farms. The overall technical efficiency of the mechanized and traditional rice farm ranged from 40.31 to 92.23 and 31.21 to 85.02%t with the mean technical efficiency of 80.56 and 70.11% respectively. The scope of increasing output by adopting the technology adopted by the best performer was 19.44% in mechanized and 29.89% in traditional rice farm respectively. Majority of the farmers were operating at an efficiency level 70-80% and 60-70% in mechanized and traditional farms respectively. The average technical efficiency of mechanized rice farm was higher than that of traditional rice fa...
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