Nepal to be self-reliant in some essentials

The country will be self-reliant in vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, onion and maize in the next five years. The government has been operating programmes to make the country self-reliant in agriculture products, said finance secretary Krishna Hari Baskota in Dhading today while inaugurating the annual general assembly of Community Small Farmers’ Agriculture Cooperatives based in Nalang.

The country has a huge potential for high-value crops, so we have to focus on them, he said, adding that organic farming can be an additional advantage to commercialise agro products. “We have to promote ‘One Village, One Product’ policy across the country,” he said.

He informed that the government will provide easy loans to cooperatives established by youths in villages. “Cooperatives will be mobilised for agriculture revolution,” he said. Baskota also informed that the government has added Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project in the national priority list. “It will open opportunities in the district,” he said.

He urged farmers to establish agro-processing industries to develop Dhading district.