Suchergebnisse

xiii Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major staple food crop of Nepal. A research was conducted in December, 2019 to examine the economic viability of organic rice farming and factors affecting its adoption. Fulbari area of Chitwan district of Nepal was purposively selected for this study on consultation with Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Chitwan and review of past works which showed good practice of organic rice farming. A total of 100 farm households, 50 organic and 50 inorganic were selected using simple random sampling. Primary data were collected through a pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule, while secondary data were collected from related publications. The probit regression analysis showed that the six variables were statistically significant for the decision to adopt organic rice farming, they are: number of schooling years of the household head (p= 0.014), annual household income from agriculture (p= 0.012), membership of any agricultural organization (p= 0.000), subsidy in other inputs in addition to seed and fertilizers (p= 0.000), area of rice cultivated land (p= 0.007) and awareness on climate change (0.086). The benefit cost ratio of organic rice production (2.2) was higher as compared to inorganic (1.9) which showed that the profitability in organic rice production was higher than in inorganic. Furthermore, indexing identified- lengthy certification process (0.85) as the first major hindrance in adoption of organic rice farming followed by lack of proper organic market (0.68), high cost of organic seed and fertilizer (0.56), lack of knowledge and trainings on organic farming (0.48) and lack of government support such as grants and premium price (0.44) as the second, third, fourth and fifth hindrances respectively. The government should promote organic rice farming, prioritizing the small scale and marginal farmers by giving subsidies and premium, facilitating in certification and marketing, and providing knowledge about climate change.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major staple food in the Nepalese context. Chitwan district of Nepal was purposively selected to analyze the rice production from the socio-economic and environmental perspective. A total of 100 rice growing farmers, 50 organic and 50 inorganic were selected as the sample for the purpose of the study using the simple random method of sampling. Primary data were collected through a pre-tested semi-structure interview schedule and key informant interviews; secondary data were collected reviewing related publications. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and chi-square test were used for data analysis. The multiple regression revealed that the four explanatory variables included in the model: age of the household head, primary occupation of the household head, number of family members involved in agriculture and subsidy in inputs for rice farming were found to have positive and statistically significant effect on rice yield (P<0.01). Moreover, chi-square test revealed that the farming practices that contributes to climate change mitigation such as: minimum tillage practice (P<0.05), crop diversification (P<0.01), green manuring (P<0.01), agro forestry practice (P<0.05), incorporating crop residues (P<0.1), weed management practice (P<0.01) and pest management practice (P<0.01)were found to be well adopted by the organic rice farmers, in contrast, the farming practices of inorganic rice farmers were statistically and significantly different in this respect. Government should make such policy that could grave the attention of the Nepalese people towards organic agriculture; moreover, encouraging them to make it their primary occupation.