Nepal Krishi, Bayer BioScience to pilot hybrid paddy seeds project

Nepal Krishi Company and Bayer BioScience of India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to begin a pilot project to use two hybrid paddy seeds this summer which have the potential to double productivity.
The use of hybrid seeds by farmers to grow paddy is insignificant compared to 90 per cent for vegetable cultivation, they claimed.
Morang-based Nepal Krishi Company, which is working with farmers’ groups for commercial production of cereal crops, will be using Arize 6444 Gold and Arize Idea hybrids as per the agreement.
Likewise, managing director of Buddha Air Birendra Bahadur Basnet, who is also a board member of Nepal Krishi Company, said that he is amazed by the productivity when Arize 6444 Gold was tested in the field last year. “We will see the result, the actual cost of production and productivity, of the hybrid varieties after four months,” he said, adding that the paddy planting season in Nepal normally begins in June. “It’s not only using hybrid seeds but also bringing advanced paddy cultivation technology to Nepal.”
Nepal Krishi Company will be piloting these hybrid varieties on 70 bighas of land by distributing 100 kg of seeds to farmers. There will be a demonstration plot of 20 bighas – known as centre for excellence –  where paddy will be cultivated with the latest technology and tools, the company said.
According to business unit head of Bayer BioScience Surendra Prajapati, these hybrid seeds are free from ‘bacterial leaf blight’ disease that causes yield losses in the range of 20 per cent to 60 per cent annually.
The disease can afflict rice plants in any of the growing stages and cause visible wilting of the seedlings and yellowing and drying of the leaves. Nearly 33 rice seedlings of these varieties should be transplanted in a one square metre area. “They are stress tolerant as well,” he said.
Prajapati said that Arize 6444 Gold is India’s highest selling hybrid rice seed and 20,000 tonnes of this variety are sowed across Asia. The ideal harvest time is between 135 and 140 days after planting. “In Uttar Pradesh, the maximum productivity of this variety was recorded at 13.7 tonnes per hectare,” he said, adding that a multi-location testing of these two varieties was conducted before being registered by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council.
According to Prajapati, the productivity of Arize 6444 Gold was recorded at 8-tonne per hectare in Kapilvastu. Arize Idea is a short slender grain or fine rice having ‘excellent’ cooking quality, the company said. The ideal harvest time is between 125 and 130 days after planting, and it yields 20 per cent to 25 per cent more grain that other varieties.
Likewise, senior scientist and Nepal representative of the International Rice Research Institute Krishna Dev Joshi said that Nepal would benefit greatly if hybrid paddy seeds are produced in Nepal. “There are only a few hybrid seeds of paddy registered in Nepal, as a result, farmers are bringing them through the porous border with India,” he said, adding that as productivity is double, more and more farmers are being attracted towards hybrid varieties. “The government should promote the production of hybrids in Nepal to increase production in order to feed the growing population.”
Hybrids have a higher yielding ability of 15 per cent to 25 per cent compared to open pollinated varieties, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. “For this reason, there is an increasing trend of using hybrids among farmers.” The first hybrid variety officially released in Nepal was maize (Gaurav) in 2004. However, it was not successful due to the non-synchronisation nature of inbred lines.
A hybrid variety of tomato (Srijana) was registered in 2010. Recently, hybrid maize and paddy seeds are also increasingly becoming popular among farmers in the Tarai and lower hills. Many of them are imported, the ministry said.
The government’s National Seed Vision 2013-25 has envisaged developing and promoting 40 hybrids – 20 vegetable hybrid seeds, 12 maize hybrids and eight paddy hybrids – by 2025 to meet the growing domestic demand and also as an import substitution measure. The private sector too is expected to develop and promote 20 hybrids, 10 vegetable, five maize and five paddy hybrids.

Wheat harvest expected to set new record

Wheat harvest – in the current fiscal year – is expected to set a new record as it is projected to exceed 2 million tonnes due to good rainfall in the season. The record wheat crop follows a bumper paddy harvest last summer.
Though, the government is planning to announce crop production estimates for the current fiscal year 2018-19 soon, wheat – the country’s third most common cereal crop after paddy and maize – harvest is expected to record a 7 per cent growth this year largely due to ‘good winter’ rainfall across the country, according Agriculture Ministry.
The good harvest of cereal crops is expected to not only increase farmer incomes and reduce rice import bill but also bring the inflation down. It will also push the economic growth because agriculture contributed to around 30 per cent to the gross domestic production (GDP). Wheat accounts for more than 7 per cent of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The bumper growth in cereal crop production is also expected to increase the agriculture sector’s growth rate by over 5 per cent this fiscal year pushing the overall GDP growth up. The government – through the budget – has tragetted to achieve 8 per cent GDP growth in the current fiscal year. The projected harvest is expected to generate revenues of more than Rs 45 billion based on the average price of wheat of Rs 22 per kg at the current price.
The country witnessed a record wheat output of 1.97 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2014-15. But the rainfall dependent production plunged by 12.1 per cent to a six-year low of 1.73 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2015-16. Due to good rain, harvests jumped by 6 per cent in the fiscal year 2016-17, reaching 1.84 million tonnes. Wheat production stood at a record 1.93 million tonnes in the last fiscal year, making it the second biggest wheat harvest in the country’s history also due to improved varieties of wheat seeds that boost productivity. Nearly 45 per cent of the wheat acreage is now covered by improved seeds."

Annual Wheat Harvest
Year          Output (in tonnes)
2018-19     2.08 million
2017-18     1.94 million
2016-17     1.84 million
2015-16     1.73 million
2014-15     1.97 million
2013-14     1.88 million
2012-13     1.88 million
2011-12     1.84 million
2010-11     1.74 million
2009-10     1.55 million
(Source: Agriculture Ministry)

Contract maize seed production starts

Hill Maize Research Project has started contract maize seed production.

Tilottama Agriculture Cooperatives of Pokharathok in Palpa signed a contract with Bhandari Agrovet of Tansen — one of the community groups — to produce and sale 2,000 kg seeds of the improved maize verities like Rampur, Arun-2 and Manakamana-3, said seed value chain and marketing expert at the project Dr Dilli Bahadur KC.
Chairperson of Tilottama Agriculture Cooperatives Govind Khanal and proprietor of Bhandari Agrovet Bishnu Prasad Bhandari signed the agreement — which is the first of such contract in improved maize seed production in the hills — on behalf of their respective institutions today in Palpa.

The project aims at signing contracts with some 42 strategic community groups — that will help ensure sustainable maize seed marketing system — in the 20 hilly districts within this year, he added.

The project's phase-IV, jointly funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is implemented by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre in partnership with various public and private sector.

The project covers 20 mid-hill districts — Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, Baglung, Syangja, Palpa, Gulmi, Jajarkot, Surkhet, Dailekh, Kalikot, Dadeldhura, Doti, Achham, Bajhang and Baitadi — aiming at promotion of a sustainable maize seed production and marketing system as a key strategic activities, he said, adding that the project has started pre-sowing contracts for improved maize seed production by signing formal agreements between community based seed production groups and private organisations like agrovets, and seed companies.

National Maize Research Programme under Nepal Agriculture Research Centre and Crop Development Directorate under Department of Agriculture, Seed Quality Control Centre and National Seed Board under the Ministry of Agriculture Development, apart from other government agencies and non-government agencies have joined the project for the implementation of the fourth phase.

Started in 1999 the project — that has completed three phases entered into the fourth phase from 2010 to 2014 — has been focusing on improved food security and income mainly of resource-poor farm households in the hills by raising productivity, sustainability and profitability of maize based cropping systems, KC informed.

The project started seed multiplication of improved maize verities through community based seed production groups in 2000.

"Some seven community groups produced 14 tonnes of seeds in 2000," he said, adding that the next year, the 195 community groups produced 1,146 tonnes of improved maize seeds in 2011. "It has proved as a successful model for Nepal as it has contributed significantly to the increased seed replacement rate apart from improving food security situation and livelihood of the hilly people.

Jhapa records highest rice production

Jhapa district topped the list of highest rice producing district whereas Syangja tooped the list of highest maize producing district.
"Though, we have good crops in all the regions this year, productivity is still low," spokesperson of the ministry Dr Hari Dahal said, adding that current productivity is around 3.3 MT per hector.
Bhaktapur has the highest productivity of 5.93 MT per hector followed by Lalitpur and Nuwakot districts with 5.79 MT per hector and 5.76 MT per hector, respectively, he added.
In high rice yield, Terai has contributed 73.24 per cent to 3.71 million MT followed by Hill 25.82 per cent to 1.20 million MT and Mountain 3.05 per cent to 154,459 MT.
Food security situation has significantly improved with record production of two major crops, rice and maize, thanks to good monsoon.
"The country has bumper crops this year," Dahal said, adding that rice production recorded 5.07 million metric tonnes (MT) and maize 2.17 MT this year improving the food security situation as the production is sufficient to feed 26.62 million populace.
"We can even export up to 200,000 MT rice to neighbouring or third countries in quantitative restriction," he said. "Bangladesh has been suffering a food shortage of about half a million MT this year."
Nepal has witnessed 13.7 per cent increment in rice and 5.4 per cent in maize production.
Earlier rice production has recorded 4.52 million MT in fiscal year 2008-09. Last two years had witnessed continuous fall posting only 4.02 million MT in 2009-10 and 4.46 million MT in 2010-11.
According to him, increase in rice production contributed by not only the good monsoon but also increased cultivation area. Rice cultivating area has increased by 2.3 per cent to 1.53 million hectors. However, maize production has increased to 2.17 million MT despite 3.8 per cent fall in production area.
According to the ministry, millet (Kodo) and buckwheat (Phapar) production also increased by 4.1 per cent and 13.3 per cent, respectively. About 315,067 MT millet and 10,021 MT buckwheat have produced in the country this year.
Global rice production has increased by three per cent in the current year. Rice production has decreased in only a half dozen countries including Japan, Indonesia and South Korea.


Top rice producing districts
Jhapa–321,840 MT
Rupandehi–301,000 MT
Morang–277,610 MT
Bara–241,340 MT
Kapilbastu–207,350 MT
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives)

Top maize producing districts
Syanja–92,750 MT
Ilam–77,500 MT
Bhojpur–74,370 MT
Tanahu–63,970 MT
Baglung–59,044 MT
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives)

Rice-Maize prodution on rise
Year — Rice — Maize
2009-10 –– 4.02 — 1.85
2011-12 –– 4.46 — 2.06
2010-11 — 5.07 — 2.17
(Figures in million metric tonne. Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives)

Maize import shoots up by five times

Import of maize has increased by almost five times in a year. “The import of maize in the fiscal year 2009-10 stood at 1,32,213 metric tonnes from 32,861 metric tonne a year ago,” said spokesperson of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Dr Hari Dahal.
Similarly, the maize seed import has also more than doubled in a year. “In the fiscal year 2008-09, only 458 metric tonnes seed of maize was imported but in the fiscal year 2009-10, the import went up to 9,778 metric tonne,” he said, adding that Nepal is still ranked at the 23rd position among the maize producing nations list.
Maize is not only the second staple food but also the second crop. It occupies 26 per cent in the total food grain consumed in the country.
“In the last one decade, maize production has increased by 28 per cent, and its productivity has increased by 20 per cent,” according to the ministry that has started the fourth phase of Hill Maize Research Project that will run for four years beginning this August.
“Of the total project cost of Rs 5.65 million, Rs 2 million will be supported by the USAID and the remaining by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,” Dahal informed.
Some 3,500 poor and marginalised families of the 20 high-hill districts will benefit from the project, he said, adding that apart from government agencies the private sector will also be included in the project.
After the first phase (1999-2002), second phase (2003-2007) and third phase (2008-2010), the project will help increase maize yield that is among the lowest in Nepal.
The maize yield in Nepal stands at 2,361 kg — according to the ministry data — that is lesser than 2,647 kg of India and 5,535 kg of China.
The low yield is attributed to low seed replacement rate — that is only six per cent — coupled with soil, irrigation and timely fertilisers.
Nepal has 17,500 metric tonne demand in Nepal but the production is 1,076 metric tonne only.
Though, Nepal is an agrarian economy, it could not become government’s priority after 1990. Till seventh five-year plan, agriculture was the first priority of the government and donors but after the eighth five-year plan, the priority has shifted.
The government has earmarked Rs 10.52 billion for the total agriculture sector in the budget for the current fiscal year that is only 2.5 per cent of the total national budget. Among all the ministries, Agriculture Ministry comes at the eighth position in the ranking of budget volume, Dahal informed.