The
government should confiscate the farmland, if a farmer household does not
harvest for three years, according to a secretary.
Addressing
an interaction, here in Kathmandu today, secretary at the Office of the Prime
Minister Krishna Hari Baskota said that the move will encourage the farmers to
harvest regularly, unlike current trend of leaving it barn.
The
subsistence agriculture pattern will not help promote the commercialisation of
agriculture, he said, adding that the trend has to be reversed to make the
agriculture commercial.
Some 3.5
million hacter of land is farm land in the country, though only less than half
around 1.3 million has irrigation facility, Baskota said, adding that the
government will help provide irrigation to all the farmland within the next
five to seven years.
In the
budget for the current fiscal year 2013-14, the government has allocated Rs 6
billion to Rs 7 billion for fertilizer subsidy. "If any entrepreneur plans
to establish fertilizer plans, the government will provide 50 per cent subsidy,
he promised, claiming that the government has also established Gene Bank to
encourage the commercialisation of agriculture.
However, the
agro-scientists claimed that the subsidy is far less than the subsidy provided
by the neighbour India for its farmers.
Due to lack
of access to loan and market, modern technology, improved seeds, fertilizer and
irrigation on time, ever year the farmers have to pay more to smuggled
fertilizer and untested seeds that have downgraded the quality of land.
Likewise, some 39.8 per
cent of the total land is covered by forest in Nepal. "The forest areas
should also be encouraged to use for cash crops, except grazing land for
livestock," the secretary added.
1 comment:
i think this is a good decision to avoid land acquisition..i appreciate this decision..
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