POLICY AND OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE FARMING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL

摘要

Nepal, surrounded by Tibet autonomous region of China in the north and India in the remaining three directions, is a small landlocked agricultural country. Of its land area of 14 million hectares, total arable land is estimated at only 2.3 million hectares which is distributed among 2.2 million farm families. The national average farm size is estimated at 0,95 hectare per farm family in 1991 (Table 1). The population has reached 20 million which is growing at 2.08 percent annually. Agriculture is andwill remain the dominant sector for providing income and employment for about 80 percent of the population. On the other hand, the agriculture production system is based on the intricate relationship among the crop, livestock and forestry sectors. Increasing population of both man and livestock is creating unbearable pressure on natural resources resulting to rapid depletion of forest and environmental degradation. Such pressure is further aggravated by slow economic growth. And with deforestation, there has been a decline in soil fertility in Terai and thus productivity in agriculture sector, while the ecology of Hill and Mountain areas has been adversely affected by soil erosion and landslide. Many fear 'desertification' in the country.