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R
ice, the most important crop inNepal, contributes approximate-ly one-ourth o gross domesticproduct and almost hal o the calorierequirements o its people, accordingto the Nepal Agricultural ResearchCouncil. Rice is cultivated on 1.56 mil-lion hectares in Nepal and over 70% isgrown in the oothills and in the Terairegion. More than 75% percent o itsworking population is engaged in ricearming or at least 6 months o theyear. Thus, the development o its ricesector is key to Nepal’s fght againsthunger and poverty.
A challenging land to till
“But only two-thirds o the nation’sentire irrigation network is ully op-erational during the monsoon seasonand only a little more than one-fth othe land is irrigated year-round,” saidDr. Stephan Haeele, a scientist at IRRI.This makes armers in rained areas,around 79% o the total rice area inNepal, highly vulnerable to drought.”The lack o assured irrigation acil-ities is the most important problem orrice production, according to a studyconducted by IRRI scholar Bishnu BilasAdhikari
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on crop management prac-tices or rice in the hilly Lamjung andTanahu districts o the Western De-velopment Region o Nepal in 2011.In these districts, only about 59% othe armers are sel-sufcient in riceor the whole year. O the 41% ood-insufcient armers, about 36% wereable to produce enough rice or morethan 10 months, and the remaining5% produced rice or only 6 months.When drought aected Nepal in2009, Mr. Adhikari also investigatedmanagement options that could helparmers minimize the negative eecto drought on yield and reduce theso-called “yield gap” in nondroughtyears.Management treatments suchas a lower seedling density and olderseedling age gave comparativelyhigher yields, and these eects wereeven more pronounced during the dryseason o 2009.
Seeds of life
Although rice is a staple ood, thesupply o good seeds in Nepal is lim-ited. “The availability o good-qualityseeds means ood security,” said Da-vid Johnson, IRRI scientist and coordi-nator o the Consortium or Unavor-able Rice Environments (CURE). “Noseeds, no harvest. This is especiallytrue or communities aected by ca-lamities.”In 2010, under the auspices oCURE, partners rom a previous re-
1
IRRI scholar at Sam Higginboom Instute of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences, Allahabad,India.
T
he rough, formidable terrain of Nepal has hindered the introduc
-
tion of modern agricultural technology, particularly in rice produc
-
tion, resulting in minimal gains for subsistence farmers. IRRI and its
partners are helping improve the productivity of these fragmented plotsthrough better rice varieties and nutrient management practices.
Tradition and innovation.
Farmers in the hills of Nepal need new technologies to increase the pro-ductivity of the traditional farming systems that maintain diversity and ensure sustainability of ricefarming.
J o e I b a b a o ( 4 )
IRRI
Annual Report 2011
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B i s h n u A d h i k a r i
CURE aims to expand the cover-age o seed producers’ groups bytargeting new locations in Nepal.“We are working toward giving mil-lions o armers in Nepal and in manyAsian countries access to new varietiesand technologies,” Dr. Johnson said.“And a community-based seed systemthat provides a mechanism to link‘stress-tolerant seeds’ to ‘ood on thetable.’”
Drought-proofng rice production
In 2011, three drought-tolerant ricevarieties bred by IRRI in partnershipwith the Nepal Agricultural ResearchCouncil were released—Sookha Dhan-1, Sookha Dhan-2, and Sookha Dhan-3 (named ater the Nepalese word ordrought, sukha). They have shown ayield advantage o 0.8–1.0 ton perhectare over current varieties undersevere drought.“These new varieties have consis-tently shown superior perormance inarmers’ felds under severe droughtconditions,” said Dr. Arvind Kumar,IRRI plant breeder who helped de-velop the varieties. “They are likely tohave a great impact in enhancing andstabilizing rice productivity in Nepal’srained areas.”While Nepal’s government isworking toward a 10-year strategy orevamping irrigation, these drought-proo varieties provide a solution orits rained agriculture.search project on ood security in mar-ginal uplands ormed seed producers’groups in seven villages in Lamjung,Tanahun, and Gorkha districts. Sincethe ormation o the seed producers’groups, the production o high-qualityseeds has grown exponentially rom just over 20 tons o lowland rice and2.1 tons o upland rice in 2009 to 155tons o lowland rice and 14 tons oupland rice in 2010. Total estimatedseed production or 2011 is 320 tonso lowland rice seeds and 51 tons oupland rice seeds. I the estimatedyields are correct, the production olowland rice seeds doubled and up-land rice seeds more than tripled since2010.The seed producers’ groups havealso been a means or CURE to intro-duce new varieties to the communi-ties. Participatory varietal selection ap-proaches showcased the perormanceo new varieties and revealed whatarmers preer in a variety.Initially, armers could not believethat new varieties could improve theirlow production as they had mostlybeen producing low-yielding tradi-tional varieties. Now, these armerscan eat rice year-round. In these vil-lages, more and more armers see theruits o their labor as they participatein seed production o upland rice andother crops. “Seed exchanges andinormation sharing among armershave improved,” said Dr. Digna Man-zanilla, social scientist at IRRI. “Wom-en are more active now than beore inarming.”
New rice or ancient land.
Sookha Dhan-1, Sookha Dhan-2, and Sookha Dhan-3, three newIRRI-bred rice varieties, show superior performance even under severe drought conditionsand could help stabilize rice productivity in Nepal’s rainfed areas.
Nurturing Nepal’s jagged edge
IRRI
Annual Report 2011
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IRRI AR 2011 - Nurturing Nepal's Jagged Edge
The rough, formidable terrain of Nepal has hindered the introduction of modern agricultural technology, particularly in rice production, resulting in minimal gains for subsistence farmers. IRRI and its partners are helping improve the productivity of these fragmented plots through better rice varieties and nutrient management practices.
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