A review on history of organic farming in the current changing context in Nepal

Abstract

Worldwide, with the increase in awareness of health and environmental concerns, demand for organic agricultural products is increasing, however, its adoption in Nepal at the field level is minimal (0.30% of the total agricultural land area). Exploring the history of organic agriculture could answer, “why its growth, despite the increasing demand, is minimal?” The history of organic agriculture for commerce in Nepal is little known. This study thus explores the scope and history of commercial organic agriculture in Nepal. The paper identifies a few historical landmarks of organic agriculture; and while doing so, it describes the world history of organic agriculture. The study observed that a ‘pure’ form of organic agriculture in Nepal started in 1987, when an American research scholar established a commercial farm. Since then, it advanced until 1992, and then ‘merged’ with permaculture. The organic agriculture movement rejuvenated again in 2002 into the 10th five years plan. Much of the national policy documents on organic agriculture favored ‘income’ and perceived organic products as luxurious goods. As a result, much of the innovation in organic agriculture, government priorities, and people’s perception inclined towards earning dollars rather than environmental conservation and sustainability of the farming system. The movement of organic agriculture in Nepal deviated from its philosophical grounds and the government's priority increased on earnings, resulting in some myths in the Nepalese society on organic agriculture. All these factors caused minimal growth of organic agriculture, despite its great scope at national and international levels.

A review on use of agrochemical in agriculture and need of organic farming in Nepal

“…are working on organic farming in Nepal (Bhatta et al, 2009). In 2020, the initiation of the founding "Organic Farming Promotional Centre" was held under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (Atreya et al, 2020). The organic product certification process was implemented under the formulation of the national standard of organic agriculture production and processing in 2007.…”

“…Most of all local governments of Nepal are concentrating on organic farming. Karnali province has been declared for working mainly on organic farming and organic products (Atreya et al, 2020). According to the study done by (Banjara and Poudel, 2017), "A separate organization having proficient manpower, adequate resources and effective management need to be built for organic agriculture.…”

Exploring innovation for sustainable agriculture: A systematic case study of permaculture in Nepal

“…In 1986, the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture Nepal (INSAN) collaborated with Agricultural Project Services (APROSC) and Win rock International to organize the first permaculture design course training facilitated by Bill Mollison in Kathmandu. Subsequently, numerous permaculture workshops have been held, and permaculture has become a common term for various sustainable farming activities in Nepal [ 18 , 19 ]. These advancements are part of an information cycle that continuously seeks to improve itself and provide better service to user groups.…”

“…The Nepal Permaculture Group (NPG) was established in 1992 to bring together NGOs and individuals who are independently engaged in sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, and permaculture. Although the NPG is a significant milestone in the organic agriculture movement in Nepal, there are only a few organizations/individuals explicitly working with permaculture models [ 19 ]. Table 1 illustrates some of those instances of permaculture implementation in Nepal.…”

“…The country possesses abundant resources that can be integrated into the permaculture model on farms. However, these resources frequently go unnoticed or unused due to the orientation towards commercial agriculture or the shift from subsistence to modern industrial agriculture [ 19 , 22 ]. The implementation of permaculture techniques enhances farmers' capacity to grow organic crops to meet their food and nutritional requirements and access local markets to sell surplus produce.…”