May 31: Farmers have complained that poultry and floriculture business have not been included in the budget of Fiscal Year 2078/79. They complained that budget presented by finance minister on Saturday did not address the concerns of both of these sectors. 

The farmers argued that an agricultural country like Nepal with more than 65 percent farmers cannot become self-reliant in agriculture if the government allocates only 2.78 percent of the total budget to the agriculture and livestock sector. Likewise, the farmers are frustrated that the poultry and floriculture business, which has provided employment to millions of people in the country, has not been included in the budget. 

General Secretary of the Nepal Poultry Federation Dinesh Raj Mishra lamented that poultry sector was not mentioned in the budget. The contribution of poultry sector to Nepal‘s GDP is Rs 180 billion. He said that the government has completely ignored the poultry industry which has a huge contribution to the overall economy of the country. 

Similarly, florists have also expressed concern that the budget does not include them. Kumar Kasaju Shrestha, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal, said that the government has ignored the floriculture business that has an investment of Rs 6.5 billion in the country. He said that they had hoped the government would address their concerns through the budget at a time when their business was in crisis due to the lockdown. However, the budget did not cover all the sectors of agriculture. He said this has disappointed all farmers and businessmen. 

The overall floriculture business is losing Rs 10 million daily due to the lockdown. The business, spread across 43 districts, has provided employment to more than 40,000 people directly and indirectly. A large part of this business is connected with various gatherings, weddings, and banquets, programmes and tourism sector and as these sectors are largely affected, the floriculture business is in crisis and has also halted production due to coronavirus.