Agrobiodiversity for Food Security in Nepal

नेपाल क्षेत्रफलका आधारमा सानो भए तापनि जैविक विविधतामा धनी राष्ट्रमै पर्छ । जैविक विविधतामा नेपाल विश्वकै ३१ औं स्थान र एसियाको ११ औं स्थानमा पर्छ । कृषिप्रधान देश र साथै मौसम विविधताले गर्दा जैविक विविधता पनि नेपालमा बढी छ । नेपालमा १० हजार १ सय ७ प्रजातिका वनस्पतिहरू पाइएका छन् । जसमध्ये ५ हजार ८ सय ९१ पुष्पक बिरुवाहरू छन् । यी पुष्पक बिरुवामध्ये कति बालीले खाद्य उपलब्ध गराउँछन् भन्ने थाहा छैन र कतिपय बालीबिरुवा त पहिचानपूर्व नै लोप भइसकेका छन् । कुनै पनि देशलाई खाद्य सुरक्षातर्फ डो¥याउन कृषि जैविक विविधताले महŒवपूर्ण र विकल्परहित भूमिका रहन्छ । दु्रततर गतिमा बढिरहेको जनसंख्यालाई सरल रूपमा खाद्य उपलब्ध गराउने निहुँमा भित्रिएको हरित क्रान्तिसँगै हाम्रो पर्यावरणमैत्री प्रणालीमा नकरात्मक असर पु¥याएको छ । हरित क्रान्तिको नामसँगै भित्रिएका वर्णशंकर बीउबिजनमा, विषादी, रसायनिक मलजस्ता कच्चापदार्थको अधिक प्रयोगले हाम्रो कृषि जैविक विविधताको स्थितिमा गिरावट ल्याइदिएको छ । हरित क्रान्तिपश्चात् स्थानीय बालीनाली र जातहरू लोप हुन पुगेका छन् । थुप्रै वर्णशंकर र आणुवंशिक परिवर्तित बालीहरू हाम्रो कृषि प्रणलीमा भित्रिएसँगै खासगरी तीन–चार बालीको मात्र अधिक स्थान पाएको पाइन्छ । विश्वको खाद्य सुरक्षामा पनि यिनै मुख्य बाली (धान, मकै, गहुँ, आलु) ले मुख्य स्थान ओगटेका छन् । यी मुख्य बालीले क्षणिक समयमा फाइदाजस्तै देखाए पनि यिनीहरूको एकात्मक बाली प्रणाली अवलम्बन गरिने हुँदा हाम्रा महŒवपूर्ण र विभिन्न बालीनालीका अनवंशहरू दिनानुदिन लोप हुँदै गइरहेका छन् । बजारमा हाइब्रिड र उन्नत बीउबिजनको नाममा भित्रिएका कच्चापदार्थले कृषि पेसामा संलग्न कृषकहरूलाई सरल तवरले कच्चापदार्थ उपलब्ध गराउनुभन्दा पनि पुस्तौंदेखि कृषकहरूले जोगाउँदै आएको महŒवपूर्ण बीउबिजन प्रणालीमा पनि खतरा पु¥याएको छ र यस्ता बालीनालीको उपभोगले गर्दा हाम्रा स्थानीय र रैथाने जातहरू लोप हुँदै गइरहेका छन् । नेपाली कृषि पर्यावरणमा जैविक विविधताको विनाश एक प्रमुख समस्याका रूपमा उत्पन्न भएको छ । परम्परागत कृषि प्रणालीमा कृषकको बुद्धिमतासँगै कृषि जैविक विविधता कायम गर्दै आइन्थ्यो भने हरित क्रान्तिपश्चात् यी महŒवपूर्ण ज्ञानहरूसमेत धरापमा परेका छन् र लोप हुने अवस्थामा छन् । विश्व खाद्य संगठनका अनुसार ३ प्रतिशतभन्दा कम वनस्पति मात्र खाद्यबालीमा उपयोग गरिएको छ र तीमध्ये पनि अधिकांश बालीहरू उपेक्षित भई लोप भइसकेका छन् । नेपालजस्तो विकासोन्मुख देशमा त झन् जैविक विविधता खस्कने दर उच्च छ । कृषिमा आधुनिकीकरण र व्यापारीकरणसँगै आधुनिक कृषि प्रणली उल्टो पिरामिडमा खडा छ भन्दा फरक नपर्ला, किनकि आजको आधुनिक कृषिप्रणाली साघुरो आणुवंशिक धरातलमा अवस्थित छ । बढ्दो आनुवंशिक क्षय र साँघुरो आनुवंशिक धरातलले गर्दा खाद्य सुरक्षामा गम्भीर असर पु¥याउँछ भन्नेमा कुनै द्विविधा छैन । कृषि र सम्पूर्ण पर्यावरणलाई जिउँदो र सक्रिय तुल्याउन कृषि जैविक विविधताको संरक्षण गर्दै सही तवरले उपभोग गर्न जरुरी हुन्छ । जैविक विविधता ठूलो भण्डार हो जहाँबाट हामी थुप्रै अवसर पाउछौँ । स्थानीय स्तरमा उपलब्ध हुने हाम्रा रैथाने बालीहरूमा बढी उत्पादन दिने, खडेरी सहन सक्ने, कम मलिलो जग्गामा फल्ने, शत्रुजीव कम लाग्ने आदि जस्ता गुणहरू पाइन्छन् । नयाँ जातको विकास गर्न रैथाने वा स्थानीय बालीहरूको महŒवपूर्ण भूमिका रहन्छ । रैथाने जातबिना हामी नयाँ बालीको विकास गर्न सक्दैनौं । तसर्थ बाली प्रवद्र्धनमा समेत जैविक विविधताको भूमिका महŒवपूर्ण छ । प्राकृतिक स्रोतको बढी प्रयोग र दुरुपयोग, वनजंगल फँडानी र डढेलो, हाइब्रिड बीउबिजनको बढ्दो उपभोग, अवैधानिक व्यापार, उपेक्षित बाली र सरकारको जैविक विविधताविरोधी नीति तथा कार्यक्रमले आनुवंशिक क्षयलाई तीव्रता दिएको छ । बढ्दो जनसंख्या सँगै वनजंगल फँडानी र कृषियोग्य जमिनलाई घडेरीमा परिणत भएकाले कृषि जैविक विविधतामा गम्भीर असर पु¥याएको छ । आज विश्व मौसम परिवर्तनसँगै हाम्रो कृषि उत्पादन र उत्पादकत्व ओरालो लागेको छ । कृषिमा वैज्ञानिकीकरणसँगै वर्णशंकर र आणुवांशिक परिवर्तित बालीहरूले अपत्यारलाग्दो उचाइ हासिल गरेका छन् र हाम्रा स्थानीय जात र बालीहरू ओझेलमा परेका छन् । कतिपय त लोप भइसकेका छन् । कृषिमा वैज्ञानिकरण भनिए तापनि कृषक, पर्यावरण र जैविक विविधतामा विभिन्न नकारात्मक असर पारेको छ । देशको स्थानीय स्तरमा उपलब्ध स्रोत, साधन र सीपको समुचित उपभोग गर्दै देशलाई सुमार्गतर्फ डो¥याउनु सम्बन्धित पदमा आसिन व्यक्तिहरूको जिम्मेवारी हो । कृषि विकासको लागि ल्याइएको दीर्घकालीन कृषि योजनामा उपेक्षित बालीनालीका लागि खासै स्थान दिइएको हैन, बरु झन् आयातित कच्चापदार्थ ( बीउबिजन, रासायनिक मल, विषादी) मा राज्यले राहत दिँदै कृषकलाई कुलतमा फसाउने प्रयास ग¥यो । कर्णालीलगायत देशका पहाडी जिल्लामा खाद्यसुरक्षा प्रदान गर्न ढुवानी खर्चमा दिइने अनुदानले गर्दा सस्तोमा चामल पाएपछि कृषकहरूले स्थानीय बाली लगाउन छाडेका छन् । भातलाई आधार बनाएर गरिएको राजनीतिले त्यहाँका स्थानीय बालीलाई गम्भीर असर पु¥याएको छ र खाद्य संकटको समस्या झन् बढाउनेमा निश्चित छ । तसर्थ, सरकारले चामलमा अनुदान बढाउनुभन्दा स्थानीय खाद्य उत्पादन वृद्धि गर्न लगानी गरेको भए त्यस जिल्लालगायत अन्य दुर्गम जिल्लाको दिगो विकास र खाद्य सुरक्षातर्फ डो¥याउँदै त्यहाँको जैविक विविधता कायम राख्न सकिन्थ्यो कि ? नेपालमा जैविक विविधता खस्कँदो अवस्थामा छ भन्ने कुरा थाहा नभएको चाहिँ होइन । खस्कँदो कृषि जैविक विविधतासँगै हाम्रो कृषि उत्पादनमा कटौती आइरहेको कटु सत्य हो । जैविक विविधता संरक्षण कतिपय गैरसरकारी संस्थाका लागि डलर फसाउने हतियार बनेको छ । विश्व खाद्य संगठनको एक प्रतिवेदनअनुसार हाल अवलम्बन भइरहेको बाली प्रजनन पद्धतिमा पुनर्विचार गर्नु जरुरी भएको छ । तसर्थ जैविक विविधता कायम गर्दै कृषि उत्पादन वृद्धि गर्न सहभागितामूलक बाली प्रजननको सहारा लिनु जरुरी हुन्छ, जसमा साना कृषकको भूमिका र उनीहरूको कृषि जैविक विविधता व्यवस्थापनमा लागेको ज्ञानलाई समावेश गरिन्छ र यो पद्धतिबाट कृषकले आफूहरूलाई आवश्यक पर्ने बालीनाली आफैं विकास गर्ने सक्ने हुन्छन् र परनिर्भरता घटाउँदै जैविक विविधता कायम गर्न सकिनेमा निर्विवाद छ । स्थानीय स्तरमा थुप्रै सम्भावना बोकेर पनि उपेक्षित भएका बालीहरूको पनि प्रवद्र्धन गर्न जरुरी हुन्छ । कृषि जैविक विविधता र दिगो कृषि विकास एक–आपसमा परिपूरक हुन र कृषि जैविक विविधताबिना हामी दिगो कृषि प्रणाली सोच्न सक्दैनौं, तसर्थ नेपाललाई आर्थिक तवरले समृद्ध तथा साँच्चिकैको कृषिप्रधान देश बनाउन जैविक विविधता संरक्षणको विकल्प छैन । देशमा विद्यमान कृषि विकाससँग सम्बन्धित नीति तथा कार्यक्रमको जैविक विविधतामा परेको र पर्न सक्ने विभिन्न नकरात्मक असर समयमै पहिलाउन उपयुक्त हुन्छ । जैविक विविधताले सु–सम्पन्न हाम्रो विविधता कायम गर्न नसक्नु दुःखलाग्दो कुरा हो । जैविक विविधताको संरक्षण गर्नु सम्पूर्ण नेपालीको जिम्मेवारी पनि हो । कृषि जैविक विविधताको विनाशलाई नियन्त्रण गरी देशलाई खाद्य सुरक्षातर्फ डो¥याउन जरुरी छ ।

Bacterial Leaf Blight of Rice and its management Technique

Disease name
Bacterial leaf blight (BB)
Pathogen
Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae


Signs and symptoms
• leaf blight
o Water-soaked to yellowish stripes on leaf blades or starting at leaf tips then later increase in length and width with a wavy margin
o Appearance of bacterial ooze that looks like a milky or opaque dewdrop on young lesions early in the morning
o Lesions turn yellow to white as the disease advances
o Severely infected leaves tend to dry quickly
o Lesions later become grayish from growth of various saprophytic fungi
• seedling wilt or kresek
o Observed 1-3 weeks after transplanting
o Green water-soaked layer along the cut portion or leaf tip of leaves as early symptom
o Leaves wilt and roll up and become grayish green to yellow
o Entire plant wilt completely
• yellow leaf or pale yellow mature plants
o Youngest leaf is uniform pale yellow or has broad yellow stripe
o Older leaves do not show symptoms
• Panicles sterile and unfilled but not stunted under severe conditions


Host range
Leersia sayanuka Ohwi, L. oryzoides (L.) Sw., L. japonica, and Zizania latifolia are alternate hosts of the disease in Japan. In the tropics, the disease is found to infect Leptochola chinensis (L.) Nees, L. filiformis (Lam.) P. Beauv., and L. panicea (Retz.) Ohwi. Cyperus rotundus L. and C. difformis L. are recorded as alternate hosts of the disease in India. In Australia, the disease is known to survive on wild rice, Oryza rifopogon and O. australiensis.


Factors favoring disease development
• presence of weeds
• presence of rice stubbles and ratoons of infected plants
• presence of bacteria in the rice paddy and irrigation canals
• warm temperature, high humidity, rain and deep water
• over fertilization
• handling of seedlings at transplanting

Management principles
Practicing field sanitation such as removing weed hosts, rice straws, ratoons, and volunteer seedlings is important to avoid infection caused by this disease. Likewise, maintaining shallow water in nursery beds, providing good drainage during severe flooding, plowing under rice stubble and straw following harvest are also management practices that can be followed. Proper application of fertilizer, especially nitrogen, and proper plant spacing are recommended for the management of bacterial leaf blight.
The use of resistant varieties is the most effective and the most common management practices adopted by farmers in most growing countries in Asia. When different strains of bacteria are present, it is recommended to grow resistant varieties possessing field resistant genes. Fallow field and allow to dry thoroughly is recommended.
Seed treatment with bleaching powder (100µg/ml) and zinc sulfate (2%) reduce bacterial blight. Control of the disease with copper compounds, antibiotics and other chemicals has not proven highly effective.

Training starts for Junior Technicians in Lumle, Kaski

Training program was initiated in RATC, Lumle in topic
" AGROBIODIVERSITY, ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AND TRAIN THE TRAINERS"
to Junior Technicians from 16 different districts of Western region, Nepal. The training programme is of 12 days.The training started from Baisakh 25 and will end on Jestha 6. Mr. Dipendra Pokharel, Crop Development Training Officer in RATC, Pokhara Training coordinator of this training had prepared a brochure and schedule of the training programme. For Training Chief Mr. Ganga Bahadur Thapa says the rules and regulations to be followed by the participants in the opening ceremony. Training coordinator Mr. Pokharel had annouced the opening programme.

The subject matter of this training is the first time in agricultural training center at Nepal. The objective of this training is to empower Junior Technicians from different districts to organize training programs in their communities for technology dissemination.and empower them with some ideas about agrobiodiversity and organic agriculture.

Women’s Role In Achieving Food Sovereignty .................

Majority of the Nepalese agriculture producers are women. They produce over 50 per cent of the food that we eat, and this scenario probably reflects in the other developing countries as well. Women are usually responsible for majority of the laborious farm operations like transplanting rice and weeding. In almost all the developing societies, rural women tend to work harder and longer hours than men.

Gender discrimination in Nepal varies with the locality, culture and their situation. They are not only involved in agriculture but also have a more fundamental role in nurturing and caring for the children and the elderly. Yet women in Nepal are restricted in their role as farmers by unequal access to and control over the resources. Only about 8 per cent of the women farmers in Nepal own land. Nepal is now in transition to a democratic republic. It is a great time to address all the problems of women, particularly those of rural women.

Equal rights for women have been agreed at international forums by the government of Nepal, however it has been slow to translate this into practice. The government of Nepal has made reservations for the women in the government and elsewhere but there is no entry of rural women in these spheres. The women from the urban areas are enjoying the reservations while the situation of the rural women continues to worsen.

Different priorities

Women farmers often have different priorities than their male counterparts, and this can, in many cases, be related to their direct role in feeding their family. In the rural areas of Nepal, traditionally men control the outside world and women the inside of the home. Such traditional perspectives can contribute to the lop-sidedness of "gender blind" information, collected by outsiders with the intention of helping a community.

It is usually the men who provide information to the outsiders. This means that women’s priorities are often overlooked, unless they are specifically taken into account. This also supports the view that the female farmers receive less extension services which are needed to transform their subsistence-based farming system to a more commercial one.

Access to and control over the resources are more of a power issue. They determine the power status of the persons who are concerned. Women in Nepal are constrained by resources like land, decision-making and other resources due to cultural, traditional and sociological factors.

Issues related to control and access to resources such as land, water and seeds, credit and market need to be scrutinised with special focus on gender. Unless women’s control over productive resources is reinforced - through individual or collective approaches - it is doubtful whether women farmers will continue to contribute to agriculture and food sovereignty with the same dedication that many Nepalese rural women still display.

Food is a hot topic these days. Given the growing population, there is more demand for food, yet climate change has aggravated the food balance scenario in Nepal and in the world. The concept of food sovereignty was coined by the international peasant movement la via Campesina. It refers to the right of the farmers to produce for him, his/her family and the nation.

In this, women and food are inseparably linked. We cannot imagine food sovereignty without the role of the women in the production of the food crops. Our interim constitution has also focussed on food sovereignty. Food sovereignty promotes community autonomy. But the political dimension goes contrary to food security. While the government has reserved seats for the women in the government and other service sectors, it is unfortunate that the problems of Nepalese farmers have been overlooked.

Food sovereignty

The concerns of rural women cannot be sufficiently addressed by merely resolving economic and livelihood issues. They also need to be addressed by enabling women to gain important social and political space both in the private and public domains. When women are given space and opportunities, they can become tremendously valuable leaders in restoring community cohesion, which ultimately leads to strengthened food sovereignty.

In the constitution that is being written, strengthening food sovereignty should be taken up simultaneously with strengthening the fight against suppression of women and degradation of the precious environment. This should lead to new social relations characterised by solidarity, respect, recognitions of diversity and solving the critical questions of inequality between men and women.

Leader farmer Training begins in RATC, Lumle

Training program was initiated in RATC, Lumle in topic
" Resource Youth Training of Traineres"
to leader farmers from 16 different districts of Western region, Nepal. The training programme is of 12 days. Mr. Basu Dev Paudel, Horticulture Training Officer in RATC, Pokhara Training coordinator of this training had prepared a brochure and schedule of the training programme.
The objective of this training is to empower leader farmers from different districts to organize training programs in their communities for technology dissemination.

Urgent Notification

Dear Friends
Now i was so busy and till September. I will correct my blog in the first weeek of November. I was so sorry for that.
Dipendra

Biodiversity Year 2010 ? Urgent action needed…

No one can deny the global climate change has wiping out our precious biodiversity in an alarming rate. In recent years, several alternative models for international environmental justice and governance have been suggested. One possible reform at the national level would be quite fruitful for developing countries to set up a single body to deal with their obligations under all international environmental agreements.

The COP-15 at Denmark was felt overambitious and blank with regards to the implementation so hope the COP-16 which is aimed to organize in 2010 at Mexico will perform the action that COP-15 had failed towards the environmental justice and equitable society. And for instance, countries that are drawing up plans to deal with climate-induced disasters could identify not just vulnerable human settlements, but also the local ecosystems on which they depend to conserve the biodiversity. An important element of this highly integrated approach is that it would protect ecosystems not just as economic mainstays of local peoples, but also as a heaven of Biodiversity.

Rice Transplanting Season starts in Nepal

Rice crop is the major food crop of Nepal. The rice production in Nepal is expected to decrease by around nine percent this year due to drought during the period of plantation, local Nepal Samacharpatra daily reported here on Monday.
The paddy production will decrease by 8.9 percent as per the field survey carried out by officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative (MoAC) and World Food Organization ( WFO), the vernacular newspaper reported quoting MoAC sources.It is mainly due to the water stress in the rice growing period. A genetic research is thus necessary to uplift the rice production to achieve the food sovereignty in Nepal.

Hybrid maize sterility in Bara Nepal

This year the poor farmers of Bara district of Nepal when gambled with the hybrid maize as the magic bullet for the bumber yield had cheated. They were become more poorer and the food security of the whole nation is under a threat.
There are different analysis revealed by the agricultural scientists in nepal that it may due to
a. segregation of the hybrid ; meiotic irregularities (L.P. Subedi, Professor, IAAS, Nepal)
b. low temperature during silking as a result of climate change
c. and so on
I am here by only aim to give some ideas for those persons who would like to know about the tragic case in Nepal.