Restoring competitive and commercial agriculture in river basin of Nepal, focus in Daraudi river, Gorkha

Daraudi river basin and sub-basins consisted of numerous fertile tars, phants and upland (24173 ha) supplying foods in settlements and neighboring cities. Agriculture in this area is no more attractive because of small size land/farm holdings (0.25ha/HH), subsistence farming, high production cost, higher agricultural risks, low productivity and low income. The aim of this research was to investigate the way of economic resilience by means of commercial agriculture, agricultural risk reduction, implementation of agriculture engineering and linking farm activities to services. Relevant literatures were reviewed, field verification and interactions were made in different rural municipalities/municipalities in the year 2021. The study found that the maize and millet in upland and rice-based cropping system in irrigated land are common in water shed and basin area. Cattle (35,709), buffalo (27,921), goat (82,358), sheep (6,806), pigs (5,430) and chicken (1,92,584) are major livestock kept. The area is in balance only on cereals (17,864 mt) and spices (735.3 mt/year) and deficit in all other foods. Land fallow (27.0%) is increasing because of youth out migration (0.72 persons/HH/year). The respondents demanded establishment of larger farm sizes (82.2%) from land pulling, farmers/entrepreneurs organizations development (54.4%), identification of profitable and competitive value chain for commercial production (74.4%), promote agriculture engineering activities (94.4%), minimization of agricultural and environmental risks (57.8%) and creation of local off farm employment (56.7%). They also suggested to have a commercial farm operation guideline (46.7%), linking all farm operation to services (55.6%, linking neighboring small producers with commercial farm for services (52.2%) and establishing a strong collaboration among all stakeholders in an integrated approach (42.2% respondents). It is recommended to address the demand of the respondents for restoring the competitive and commercial agriculture in river basin of Daraudi river. Similar recommendation may apply to other river basins in Nepal.