Agriculture, which generates two-third of the employment and one-third of the GDP in Nepal, is an important sector since Nepal is a small, landlocked country with low income. The government enacted the National Agriculture Policy in 2004 (NAP-2004) as an umbrella policy in the agricultural sector to guide all sectoral policies coming in the future. The paper has examined NAP-2004 by using the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis technique. For the analysis, secondary data, the publications of the government and the international organizations as well as peer-reviewed articles were reviewed. The strength and weakness were analyzed by using nine different indicators. The results of the paper will be instrumental for improvement of the agricultural policy.

The paper attempts to explore the factors affecting the farm mechanization in Nepal, where agriculture is the primary livelihood of most people and the mechanization is crucial for efficient production and productivity. The government has also introduced a separate policy for agriculture mechanization in 2014. A primary data was collected from 300 households and analysed to assess and quantify the determinants of the farm mechanization. A descriptive analysis was carried out for understanding the data and the results were interpreted. Similarly, the multiple regression was executed to assess the factors affecting total investment in the farm machinery. The five different models were specified and compared for the better results. Moreover, to have deeper insight, the farm machinery was categorized into light machinery, heavy machinery and animal power. The results showed that light machinery is an essential part of Nepali farming system. Likewise, the presence of animal power, income per capita, per capita farm area, adaptation due to change in temperature, Household size, Farm area and income are significant determinants for total investment in farm mechanization.

This paper has attempted to analyze the trend of pesticide import, formulation and consumption in Nepal. Nepal has diverse agro-ecological conditions and different agro-climatic conditions necessitate varieties of approaches to crop cultivation and crop protection. The average national use of pesticides in Nepal is 396g a.i./ha with the highest use in the vegetable. This review used relevant secondary data, and information. The study found that the fungicides are the major form of pesticides used in Nepal for the pest control and the trend of pesticides consumption is increasing for agricultural purposes. The Nepal Government has signed different international treaties, made rules and regulations and initiated different types of programs to minimize the use of pesticides.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the important spices in the world. Nepal is the fourth largest producers of ginger in the world, which produced 271.863 MT in 2016. In Nepal, seventy districts are producing ginger and around 400.000 households are involving in the ginger farming which is the chief source of the household income. Moreover, ginger has prioritized by several policies and strategies of the Government of Nepal. This paper examined the production trend and market access of Nepali ginger considering the ginger global market. A diagnostic study of production, value addition, and the marketing system was carried out between the eastern and the western part of Nepal. The secondary information was reviewed and analysed for the study. Likewise, the key informant survey was performed for the primary data and information. For Nepali ginger, India is found constantly top destination. The result of price index suggested that Nepali ginger is losing significant potential earning by not having top most lucrative markets for fresh ginger. Moreover, the trend of the export is ever fluctuating and the result showed that trade of ginger to India in term of export is more stable from the western region as compared to the eastern region. The study found that the major determinants of ginger market access are quality of ginger produced, value addition, level of trade facilitation, and domestic production and the import of India from other countries.

Food security is a major concern of the world in the context of increasing population, changing climate and declining scarce natural resources. Reducing food loss is equally important as increasing food production and productivity to feed the world, where 9.7 billion inhabitants were expected by 2050. Food loss can occur at several points along the food chain, however, harvest loss at the farm level is often overlooked which is directly impacting on sustainability. The paper attempts to estimate harvest loss at the farm level. A household survey was executed in 300 households from ten sample districts across Nepal. The percentage of harvest loss at the farm level was calculated for each crop grown as per -the season, plot and priority. Likewise, the multiple regression was executed to determine the level of influence of the socio-economic factors on the post-harvest loss at the farm level for the major crops. The mean harvest loss at the farm level found around 5 percent for the reported crops. The multiple regression model demonstrated that at the farm level, socio-economic factors might have a smaller influence on harvest loss as compared to physical and biological contributing factors. Nevertheless, reducing the post-harvest loss will increase food availability and thus the food security.