1 million hectares of land is kept fallow and billions of food crops are produced every year

Whether it is for the development of the agricultural sector or for the purpose of increasing investment in it, the government brings some new programs in this sector every year. Programs that sound good but fail in implementation. Although the government has introduced programs ranging from subsidies to insurance incentives, the agricultural sector has not been able to move on the path of commercialization because it has not reached the real farmers. Farmers are also not excited.

may be the result of this - every year the land remains barren. And even those who used to make a living from agriculture, have to buy and eat without paying attention to the production.

The data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development says that there are 4.121 thousand hectares of arable land in the whole country. Of that, 3.391 thousand hectares are cultivated. And 10 lakh 30 thousand hectares of land is lying barren. Whereas in the last one year, major agricultural crops worth 90 billion 71 million rupees have been imported. However, this amount is less than 079/80. Last year, major agricultural crops were imported worth 1 trillion 7 billion 22 billion. But looking at the import of some food items, more was imported last year than the previous year. Like, wheat.

In 079/80, according to the data of the Customs Department, 6,664 tons of wheat worth 289 million rupees were imported. In 080/81, the import increased sharply. 65 thousand 439 tons of wheat worth 2 billion 73 crore 31 lakh rupees have been imported. Ministry officials say that there is a suspicion that the imported wheat will be processed and exported to China. Mahanand Joshi, the information officer of the Ministry, says that wheat import has also increased due to the fact that the general public eats a piece of roti in the morning or in the evening.

The import of fruit pulses, fruits and fresh vegetables has also increased significantly. Last year, fruits worth 16 billion 14 billion 67 million were imported. In 080/81, fruit import increased to 19.54 billion 2.5 million rupees. Last year pulses worth 14 billion 838 million rupees were imported, but last year it increased to 15 billion 196 million rupees. Fresh vegetables worth 1.97 billion 92 million rupees were imported last year. Last year, such vegetables were worth 1.71 billion 6 million rupees.

Vegetables are grown in 281 thousand 132 hectares across the country. And about 39 lakh 62 thousand tons are produced annually. Insufficient vegetables are mainly imported from India. In agriculture, the Indian government has provided many facilities such as subsidies and insurance. That is why Indian vegetables are cheaper compared to Nepalese produce. For this reason, businessmen import fresh vegetables from India.

Customs data shows that import of paddy and rice has decreased somewhat. In 079/80, the import of paddy and rice worth 35 billion 90 million 68 million rupees decreased to 21 billion 34 million 43 million rupees in 080/81 last year. Information officer Mahanand Joshi says that 2/4 of the reason for the decrease in paddy-rice imports is. The first reason is the change in eating habits. Joshi said that there may have been some decrease in buying and selling due to economic relaxation.

It is mentioned in the National Living Standards Survey that a household spends 31 percent of its income on food. In 10 years, it has decreased to 17 percent, which means that the common people have increased consumption of fruits, fish, meat and vegetables compared to rice,' said Joshi, 'that may be the reason for the decrease in imports.' Rice production has also increased compared to previous years. In the financial year 080/81, 57 lakh 24 thousand 234 tons of rice was produced. According to the ministry, there is an obligation to depend on imports if it is insufficient.

Apart from this, it is said that some businessmen may have brought other goods and cleared the customs in the name of paddy-rice. The ministry argues that the import of paddy-rice is also high. "Looking at the 3-year customs data, it appears that rice and paddy worth 45 billion were imported in the first year. After that, imports of 35 billion and now 21 billion are seen," Joshi said, "It is estimated that there may be a problem in the customs data check and pass system."

Potatoes, onions and garlic have also been imported worth billions of rupees. According to customs data, 255,289 tons of potatoes worth 6.45 billion 87 million rupees were imported last year alone. According to the data, 69 thousand 179 tons of onion and garlic were imported worth 4 billion 46 million 89 million rupees. According to the ministry, there is a situation where onion and garlic have to be imported if domestic production does not grow for three months. Some agricultural crops have also been exported. According to the customs department, cardamom, ginger, tea, coffee, dairy products and honey are exported. According to the department, vegetables worth 224.9 million rupees were exported last year.