--BY KRISHNA RAJ BAJGAIN

Nepal government has given due priority to agriculture since its first periodical plan. Fertile land and abundant water resources are regarded as the god-gifted assets of the Nepali agricultural sector.  Despite these encouraging factors, the performance of agricultural production activity paints a gloomy picture and attempts to improve the production and productivity in the agricultural sector seem to be futile. The reason behind the poor performance of this sector is attributed primarily to unscientifically constructed roads along the hillside of Nepal, overexploitation of river bed, the encroachment of arable land, elimination of local seeds and plant breeds and over-emphasis on foreign employment. The above-mentioned factors are causing massive soil erosion, landslide, decrease in fertile land and shortage of labour in agriculture.

Taking these factors into account, the government of Nepal has to give due priority to address these concerns and take necessary steps to stop the skyrocketing import of agricultural products and make Nepal self-reliant on such products.