Govt launching product-specific programs in each district

The government is prioritizing two agricultural products in each district by providing necessary support and incentives to farmers with an objective of making the country self-reliant in agro-products within three years. The program, which will be introduced in the upcoming budget for Fiscal Year 2016/17, will end the trend of scattering budget in petty projects focus on providing technical support to farmers, build facilities like irrigation and other essentials, and announcing incentives for farmers based on farm productivity, according to officials. Yogendra Kumar Karki, spokesperson of Ministry of Agricultural Development, said output- based subsidy and support will now replace programs that failed to yield expected results. "Subsidies now will be directly linked with productivity of selected products and farmers are free to choose on what they will spend hereafter," added Karki. Though details are being worked out, officials say paddy farmer will get at least Rs 5,000 based on productivity measurement which will be certified by local agencies. In its Policies and Programs for 2016/17, the government has announced integrated programs to make the country self-reliant in food grains within two years. Details of the programs will come in the budget, said officials. On top of that, the government will also provide product-specific facilities in all districts. The government has targeted to increase production of paddy by 1-1.3 million tons in a bid to reduce import of staple food which is worth Rs 25 billion annually. The country produced 4.5 million tons of paddy last year. Paddy production has been falling over the past five years mainly due to erratic monsoon. Experts say that the new approach sounds more workable as it is similar to 'one village, one product' program initiated by the private sector. Paddy expert Bhola Man Singh Basnet investments in early paddy along with improved irrigation facility can increase paddy production. However, this is not the first time that paddy-focused program has been launched. The government had earlier launched paddy mission program to increase production. But it failed as paddy production has been falling for the past two years. Some say that the food crisis because of the Indian blockade and the urgency to trade deficit with India forced the government to bring the programs. Nepal's trade with India is about one-third of its total trade. The country now imports food products worth Rs 35 billion annually. Total import of agricultural products is more than Rs 100 billion annually. Other programs are focused on major crops like maize, wheat and millet. Though the country is self-reliant in wheat, it imports huge quantity of maize which is used to produce animal feed. These product-specific programs will also make it easy for the government to tie up production to food processing industries and build supply chain like the way private sector has done for the 'one village, one product' program. Officials of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) also say that the product-specific programs being launched by the government could be the extension of the 'one village, one product' program. In an interview to Republica last week, former government secretary Hari Dahal had stressed on commercial farming, suggesting that the government allocate sufficient budget and introduce different incentives and subsidies that are beneficial to farmers. Though the preliminary budget ceiling for agriculture is only Rs 17 billion, Karki hoped that they will have sufficient budget for the program. Source: Republica