Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
3. Research Methods
4. Case Study: Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy Review in the Context of Rural Mechanization in Nepal
4.1. History of Agricultural Innovation and Science Policy
4.2. History of Agricultural Mechanization Innovation in Nepal
4.3. Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy of 2014 (AMPP 2014)
4.3.1. Agenda Setting
“My husband is in Qatar for three years for a wage labor job. (…) We have two-acres of land and cannot use a tractor to plough due to its steepness. So, we use to plough by ox/bull when my husband was at home. My father-in-law is too old, he doesn’t have the energy to plough at the age of 86 years old. By religion, we are Hindu, and females are forbidden to plough land by using ox/bull. (…) Due to the out-migration of youth from the village, the wage rate for ploughing land is very expensive. Even though we are ready to pay, we have to wait for a turn to get it done as there is high demand from every household, and we get our turn at the end, where we already missed some weeks of seed planting. If there were small, affordable and easy to use farm tools or machinery, we wouldn’t have to wait for a man to plough our land. (25-year-old woman farmer from Jogimara, Dhading, translated from Nepali)”
“I am a mother of three children, living with my children and my 77-year-old father-in-law in Jogimara, Dhading. My husband is working in Qatar for the past seven years. (…) We only grow the main season crop even though we have three seasons. As wage labor is very expensive, our agricultural harvest is not enough to pay back the cost of producing crops. We have two bullocks at home but being a woman, my religion doesn’t allow me to plough by a bullock. So, my 77 years old father-in-law and 9 years old son plough the land and I do the rest of the agricultural work on our farm. If there are some small farm tools which a female can use to plough land in hilly areas this will be a great help for me. (32-year-old women farmer, Jogimara, Dhading, translated from Nepali)”
“I am living with my 73-year-old wife in a hillside village near Majhthana, Kaski (…) As we are old and alone at home and don’t have enough money to pay for expensive ox/bullock for ploughing our land, we only grow main season crops and our land remains fallow the rest of the year. If there is something like a small tractor that we can use in hilly areas will be helpful to keep growing our crops. (81-year-old male farmer, translated from Nepali)”
4.3.2. Policy Formulation
- (1)
- to increase agricultural productivity through the development and use of economic and geographically relevant agricultural tools and machinery for sustainable, competitive, and commercialized agriculture;
- (2)
- to increase access by farmers and entrepreneurs to agricultural tools and machinery and associated services through joint public–private partnership;
- (3)
- to identify and promote environment-friendly and female appropriate agricultural tools and machinery; and
- (4)
- to develop institutions that promote agricultural tools and machinery, quality control, monitoring evaluation, and effective dissemination.
4.3.3. Policy Decision
4.3.4. Policy Implementation
“I started commercial vegetable farming after returning from 7 years in Qatar. I mostly grow seasonal vegetables. (…) I get 85% subsidy from PM-AMP to establish my sophisticated greenhouse farm. I also receive regular technical support from agricultural technicians/experts in vegetable growing, drip irrigation and insect pest management. (…). I also rented land labelers and tractors from a custom hiring center at a subsidized rate. I am happy that the government is helping returning migrants like me to come back to agriculture. (…) I have a contract with PM-AMP for 10 years to continue this farming. (35-year-old returned male migrant from Chauthe, Kaski, translated from Nepali).”
“I get a subsidy to purchase all the farm tools and machinery such as a tractor, tree cutter, thresher, and harvester. But the problem is that we are not able to create awareness among farmers about our service. Even though we want to serve them on a rental basis, the travel cost is so high to reach to the village and come back and farmers will be in a loss to pay for us. So, there should be some mechanism to provide service to a maximum number of farmers on an efficient way, but I don’t know what it would look like. (custom hiring service provider from Kaski, translated from Nepali).”
4.3.5. Policy Review
I am 72-year-old man living with my 75-year-old wife in a ward of Majhthana, one of the mid-hills of Kaski. Due to the 2015 earthquake, many people were scared and moved with their sons nearer to the city in flat lands. they left their old, earthquake affected houses and left the land fallow in the village. We are poor and cannot afford to move to the urban areas. We are trying to grow our crops, but most of the crops and vegetables were destroyed by monkeys which are increasing in high numbers due to dense growing forest on the fallow land. (…) As most of the houses in the villages are empty, rodents get enough space to live and increase their population and they come to our home and land to destroy our crops. Further, weeds such as Banmara (Ageratina adenophora) and Gandhe (Ageratum conyzoides) are increasing in the empty land of our neighbors which also affect our crops. (Male farmer from Majhthana, Kaski, translated from Nepali).
5. Responsible Innovation: An Analysis of Nepal’s AMPP 2014
5.1. Anticipation and Inclusion
5.2. Reflexivity and Responsiveness
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Dimension | Technique and Approaches | Factors of Implementation |
---|---|---|
Anticipation | Foresight Technology assessment Horizon scanning Scenarios Vision assessment Socio-literary techniques | Engaging with existing “imaginaries” or social, cultural, economic, and environmental representations Participation rather than prediction Plausibility Investment in scenario-building Scientific autonomy and reluctance to anticipate change |
Inclusion | Consensus conferences Citizens’ juries and panels Science shops Deliberative mapping/polling Lay membership of expert bodies User-centered design Reflexive interactive design Open innovation | The legitimacy of deliberative exercises Clarity about purpose and motivation for dialogue Deliberation on framing assumptions Ability to consider power imbalances Interrogate the social and ethical stakes associated with science and technology Quality of dialogue as a learning exercise |
Reflexivity | Multidisciplinary collaboration and training Embedded social scientists and ethicists in laboratories Reflexive interactive assessment Ethical technology assessment Codes of conduct | Rethinking moral division of labor Enlarging or redefining roles and responsibilities Reflexive capacity among scientists and within institutions Connections between research practice and governance |
Responsiveness | Constitution of grand challenges and thematic research programs Regulations and standards Open access Niche management Value-sensitive design Alternative intellectual property regimes | Strategic policies and technology roadmaps Science-policy culture Institutional structure, cultures, and leadership Prevailing policy discourses Openness and transparency Intellectual property regimes Technological standards and their review |
Year | Major Initiatives | Major Focus |
---|---|---|
1937 | Agriculture council established | Colonial-era modern agricultural development policies started |
1951 | The democratic political system established | Foreign aid agencies contribute to developing national policies and plan |
1952 | A new agricultural plan developed | Information on improved seeds and chemical fertilizers |
1956 | Started the first Five-Year Plan (1956–1961) | Agriculture identified as one of the top priority sectors for development. |
1958 | First conference on agriculture | Focused on agricultural development program |
1958 | Eradication of Malaria | A massive migration of people from the hills and mountains to the Terai, area under forest decreased, and land under crop increased |
1964 | Land Act | Focused on individual rights to the land, land ceiling, and land reform, but no more focus on commercial use of agricultural land and its productivity |
1973/74 | Subsidized the price of fertilizers | Government encouraged farmers to use fertilizers |
1975–1980 | Fifth Five-Year Plan (1975–1980) | Agriculture is given the highest priority within national development planning |
1990–1995 | Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992–1997) | Agricultural intensification and income diversification prioritized to increase food production |
1998 | Pocket package approach started | Focus on high-value commodities in hills and mountains, technology-driven strategy for Terai and the development of groundwater. |
1999 | Household labor decreased drastically | Maoist movement (1995-2005), male seasonal out-migration increases |
2002–2007; 2007–2010 | The tenth Five-Year Plan and Three-Year plan | Agricultural commercialization and diversification |
2004 | National Agriculture Policy (NAP) | Priority is given for irrigation facilities, agricultural roads, rural electrification required for small irrigation as pedal pumps, rower pumps, sprinklers, drips, and water harvesting ponds No large mechanization strategy due to fear of labor displacement |
2010 | NARC’s Strategic Vision for Agricultural Research, 2011–2030 | High priority for agricultural mechanization for flatland and socio-economic factors of the country considered |
2014 | Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy | First policy on promotion of agricultural mechanization in Nepal |
2014 | Twenty-Year Agricultural Development Strategy 2016–2035 | High priority given to flatland agricultural mechanization |
2016 | Ten-Year Prime Minister’s Agricultural Modernization Project (PM-AMP), 2016–2025. | For twenty years PM-AMP initiated the concept of pocket, block, zones, and super zones Provision to provide 50% capital subsidy on the purchase of agricultural equipment and tools in block and pocket areas |
Dimension | Mainstream: Larger Machines and Tools | Alternatives: Smaller Machines and Tools |
---|---|---|
Anticipation and inclusion | Anticipation of land consolidation and intensification of agriculture. Imported machines, less emphasis on inclusion of domestic engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, artisans, and end-users in technology assessment. Imported machines, less adaptable to local biophysical, ecological, social, economic, and cultural context. | Anticipation of land fragmentation and diversification of agriculture. Import substitution, greater emphasis on inclusion of engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, artisans, and end-users in technology assessment including gender and youth and returned migrants. Domestically produced machines, more adaptable to the local biophysical, ecological, social, economic, and cultural context of hillsides, and friendly to youth and women. |
Reflexivity and responsiveness | Reflection on what went wrong or right in the past. Responsive to strong market demands arising from high production potential areas in the plain areas (Terai). Exacerbates soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emission and labor replacement. | Reflexivity on the mainstream dominant practices, whether the established trajectory of farm mechanization helps promote ecological farming on hillside terraces. Responsive to weak market demands, a characteristic of smallholder farmers cultivating hillside terraces. Responsive to potential environmental impacts of larger farm machines; help conserve biodiversity and suitable for conservation agriculture. |
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Devkota, R.; Pant, L.P.; Gartaula, H.N.; Patel, K.; Gauchan, D.; Hambly-Odame, H.; Thapa, B.; Raizada, M.N. Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System. Sustainability 2020, 12, 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010374
Devkota R, Pant LP, Gartaula HN, Patel K, Gauchan D, Hambly-Odame H, Thapa B, Raizada MN. Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System. Sustainability. 2020; 12(1):374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010374
Chicago/Turabian StyleDevkota, Rachana, Laxmi Prasad Pant, Hom Nath Gartaula, Kirit Patel, Devendra Gauchan, Helen Hambly-Odame, Balaram Thapa, and Manish N. Raizada. 2020. "Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System" Sustainability 12, no. 1: 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010374