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CG PR T No. 6 COARSE GRAINS AND PULSES IN NEPAL Role and Prospects Bed B. Khadka The CGPRT Centre COARSE GRAINS AND PULSES IN NEPAL Role and Prospects CGPRT NO. 6 COARSE GRAINS AND PULSES IN NEPAL Role and Prospects Bed B. Khadka UN/ESCAP CGPRT Centre Regional Co-ordination Centre for Research and Development of Coarse Grains, Roots and Tuber crops in the Humid Tropics of Asia and the Pacific FOREWORD The regional research project RAS/82/002 is funded by the UNDP, and is implemented by the FAO and the ESCAP CGPRT Centre. One of the important objectives is to identify and analyze socioeconomic constraints to increased production and efficient distribution, and to formulate strategies to exploit economic, employment and nutritional potential of coarse grains and food legumes under varying farming systems. In line with its mandate, the CGPRT Centre was requested to implement socio-economic studies in selected countries of Asia. Initiated in late 1984, country studies were conducted in 7 countries, namely, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Selection of crops was based on their importance to the individual country and on the priority set by the CGPRT Centre, namely, selected pulses for the southern Asia sub-region and either maize or soybean for Southeast Asian countries. The research report "Coarse Grains and Pulses in Nepal: Role and Prospects" is the second in this series of country reports. It describes the role of coarse grains and pulses in commercial as well as in subsistence agriculture. Mr. Khadka points out that in Nepal the growth of food production is not keeping pace with population growth, and that increasing produ- ctivity is necessary for Nepal to maintain its self-sufficiency in food. Recent production increases can be ascribed to area expansion, while yields are diminishing. The report points out that area-specific research is necessary to increase productivity among subsistence farmers in the hilly and mountainous areas in Nepal. I am pleased to present this report, and I hope it will contribute to research planning in Nepal and development of CGPRT crops in the region. For the convenience of the reader, an extensive bibliography is included at the end of the report. Director Shiro Okabe CGPRT Centre v SUMMARY This report attempts to analyse the rate of growth and prospects for coarse grains in Nepal. It points out present trends in production and consumption in the various regions in Nepal and implications for Nepal's research programme. Major food crops in Nepal are rice, maize, wheat, millets,and pulses. Barley, buckwheat, and other minor crops are important food crops in the high mountains and the mid-hills. While crop yields have been at best stable over the years, population pressure is mounting rapidly. Per capita food production and the availability of food is decreasing. Nepal can be divided into three ecological zones: The high mountains and the mid-hills, which account for three-fourths of the land area, and the tarai, a narrow strip of deep, fertile soil. Nepal depends largely on agriculture, which engages 90 percent of the labour force, and which accounts for 70 to 80 percent of Nepal's exports. Coarse grains and pulses are important in the diet of the Nepalese people. Maize is second only to rice in nutritional signi- ficance, but first in the hills. Of all maize consumed, over 75 per- cent is accounted for by hill dwellers. Similarly, 89 percent of all millets and 86 percent of the barley is consumed in the hills; Almost all the buckwheat produced is consumed in the higher hills. Virtually all farmers grow legumes or pulses in Nepal, but per capita consumption is low. Coarse grains and pulses as a group have a dual function in Nepal. They are important both in commerce and in subsistence, which may account for the low reported yields of, in particular, pulses. Yields of maize are reported to be decreasing because of the expansion of production to more marginal lands. The need for increasing production and productivity is becoming pressing. As shown by research, substantial increases in yields of various food crops are possible through improved crop production technology. Currently, the Seventh Development Plan of the country has targeted crop production to increase by 20 percent during the plan period (1985/86-1989/90). While research and development efforts need to be stepped up, all the available information on the subject should be utilized to help increase production. Millets, barley and buckwheat, although treated as minor crops in the country, should receive more attention because of their importance as staple crops in the hills. A pulse improvement programme might also be pursued more vigorously. vii CONTENTS Foreword v Summary vii List of Tables xi Glossary xi I. Background 1 II. Coarse Grains and Pulses 2.1 Maize 5 2.2 Millet 7 2.3 Barley 8 2.4 Buckwheat 9 2.5 Grain Amaranths 9 2.6 Pulses 9 2.6.1 Grasspea 5 2.6.2 Lentil 11 2.6.3 Chickpea 11 2.6.4 Horsegram 11 2.6.5 Soybean 11 2.6.6 Blackgram 11 2.6.7 Mungbean 12 2.6.8 Pigeonpea 12 2.6.9 Fieldpea 12 2.6.10 Commonbean 13 2.6.11 Cowpea 13 2.6.12 Broadbean 13 III. Food and Nutrition 15 IV. Production and Demand 19 V. Constraints and Issues 25 VI. Suggestions For a Strategy 29 Bibliography 33 ix List of Tables Page Table 1 Comparisons of 5-year Average Yields of Some of the Coarse Grains 7 Table 2 Production, Area and Yield of Some of the Major Grain Legumes in 1983 10 Table 3 Share of Maize, Millet, Barley and Pulses in the Consumption Pattern 18 Table 4 5-year Averages of the Combined Production of Rice, Maize, Wheat, Millet and Barley for the Period 1961 to 1983 21 Table 5 Share of Different Crops in Nepal's Seventh Development Plan 24 xii GLOSSARY Comparative Crop Names English Name Local Name Scientific Name COARSE GRAINS Amaranths Latte Amaranthus caudatus Barley Jau Amaranthus leucocarpus Buckwheat Phapar Hordeum vulgare Common or Sweet mitthe Fagopyrum esculentum Tartary or Bitter tite Fagopyrum tartaricum Maize Makai Zea mays MILLETS Fingermillet Kodo Eleusine coracana Common Millet Chinu Panicum miliacum Italian Millet Kaguno Setaria italica Sorghum Junelo Sorghum bicolor Quinoa Chenopodium quinoa PULSES Blackgram Mas, Kalo dal Vigna radiata var. mungo Broadbean Bakulla Vicio faba Chickpea/Gram Chana Cicer arietinum Cowpea Bodi Vigna unquiculata Fieldpea Kerau/Matar Pisum sativum var. arvense Grasspea/Chicling vetch/Chickling pea Khesari Lathyrus sativus Horsegram/ Microtyloma uniform/ Horsebean Gahat Dolichos biflorus Lentil Musuro Lens culinaris/ Lens esculentus xiii Mungbean Mungi Vigna radiata var. aureus Phaseolus bean/ Simi Phaseolus vulgaris Kidneybean Pigeonpea Rahar/Arahar Cajanus cajan Ricebean Mashyang Vigna umbellata Soybean Bhatmas Glycine max Commonly Used Terms D a l Mature dried seeds of legumes, cooked whole, split, broken or ground in water with some spices and other additions to form a sort of thick soup or sauce. Inner tarai Tropical to subtropical areas more or less enclosed by lower hills (Siwalik) in the south and higher hills (part of Siwalik and Mahabharat range) in the north. Pulse Dried legume seeds. Tarai Low-lying narrow strip of deep, fertile, alluvial flatland, south of the foothills with tropical to subtropical climate. Acronyms AVRDC Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (Taiwan) ICARDA International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (Syria) ICP Nepal’s Integrated Cereal Project ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (India) IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Nigeria) I N T S O Y International Soybean Program (USA) N M D P Nepal’s National Maize Development Programme N W D P Nepal’s National Wheat Development Programme xiv I. Background Nepal is a small country with a predominance of hills and mountains, which account for more than three-fourths of the land area. The country is divided into parallels of three ecological zones extending from east to west: the high mountains, the mid-hills (both situated in the rugged flanks and foothills of the steeply-dissected Himalayan range), and a narrow strip of deep, fertile, alluvial flatland, populary known as tarai [refer to the glossary]. Nearly two- thirds of the population live in the hills or the mountains, with only one-third of the land presently under cultivation. Nepal's economy depends largely on agriculture, which engages over 90 percent of the total labour force and accounts for 53 percent of the country's GDP and 70 to 80 percent of all exports. Agriculture in Nepal is basically subsistence, with crops, livestock, and trees forming integral parts of the existing farming system. The farming system is based predominantly on cereal crop production to sustain the farm family. This is supplemented by smaller amounts of legumes, some perennial crops (mainly fruits) and livestock for cash income and home consumption. Nationally, rice is the preferred annual crop, which is cultivated even at high elevations where water-holding terraces are possible. In the hills, however, maize is even more important as a food crop and is grown on slopes and terraces. Wheat is rapidly increasing both in acreage and production and is the most important winter cereal. Other common cereals are fingermillet, barley and buckwheat. Farming conditions in the tarai are vastly different from those of the hills. While farming in the hills is mostly subsistence with characteristic diversity in an effort to meet the needs of the family, tarai farming is more uniform. About 90 percent of cultivated land is under food crops. New technology, management practices, and improved methods and materials have not yet made many roads into the farming community.

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