Agribusiness in Nepal

Bhaktapur- The living City  Among the three major cities of the  Kathmandu Valley , Bhaktapur, to this date, is the living representation of how the entire Kathmandu Valley would have looked like during the medieval periods. The city is celebrated for its glorious architecture; sky-high temples built in pagoda style - which is believed to be the stairway to the heaven, fine clay pottery, and massive royal courtyards whose existence date back to the 12th century, where devotees, still, celebrate their pre-historic festivals by equal amount of gusto and passion. Bhaktapur used to be the ruling throne of the Kathmandu Valley until the king, Yakshya Malla, in 1482, divided the kingdom between his three sons, eventually fading the strength of unity and losing the nation to the Shah dynasty from Gorkha. But, before losing the kingdom to Shah kings, Bhaktapur was renowned for its Malla Yuddha; a fierce combat between two wrestlers. Hence, one can observe muscular craved wrest...

Shiitake ( Lentinus edodus ) is a newly introduced mushroom in Nepal. Because of its high profit, low labour and land requirements compared to  Pleurotus  and  Agaricus  it gaining  popularity among farmers.   Alnus  and  Castonopsis  are the most suitable woods available in Nepal for shiitake mushrooms production.The logs are planted with the spores in spring and after the mycelium has grown through the wood, fruit bodies of shiitake begin to grow out on the logs. With this method, steady production is obtained. Shiitake production is started from October to November and will continue up to 3–6 years, depending upon care. The demand for the mushroom is very high and the current production is not sufficient. Shiitake may be used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes and is valued for its full-bodied flavour, dark colour, and meaty texture. In 2014, wholesale market prices for shiitake ranged from NPR 500 to NPR 850 per kilogr...

The consumption of cut flowers in the world is worth US$ 13,000 million. The main importers are the USA, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Sweden,Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Australia, and Japan. Germany is the largest importer, followed by the US, France and Britain. Among the exporters , the Netherlands dominates the world trade (65%), followed by Columbia (12%) and Israel (6%). Thailand holds  sixth position in export of cut flowers (Prasad and Kumar, 2005).In present context  Half of the flowers produced in the world is consumed by western Europe alone and a large expansion in flower consumption is taking place in Eastern Europe,Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Kathmandu valley is the central of Cut flower business in Nepal . The localization is mainly due to access to consumer-orientation and favorable natural conditions. The establishment of such industries takes place wherever consumers with sufficient purchasing powers ...

A.G. Howard, one of the pioneers of organic agriculture observed farming in India for many years and established   the theory of organic agriculture. The theory provokes for the sustainable farming through balancing the soil by recycling organic materials back to the soil i.e. resource-cycle farming which existed in Asia for over a thousand years. However, modern agriculture has been focusing an economic efficiency without giving much attention on environment. Without doubt; such pursuits followed side effects and the green revolution is one of the example (Murayma, 2001). Evidences from all over the world shows that the organic farming has increased the crop yield by doubled or trippled in land where resources are poor, diverse and complex. In irrigated condition, if maintained the yield. While, in the industrialized agricultural system, transition to sustainable agriculture could decrease the production per hectare by 10-20% in short form, but provides better level of fin...