Trade liberalization and food security in Nepal

"Among South Asian countries, Nepal has liberalized most extensively during the 1980s and 1990s on both fronts, domestic and external. Nepal is a least developed country with a gross national product of US $235 per capita in 2001 and second lowest per capita wealth in the world. In South Asia, Nepal has the lowest per capita income, highest dependence of population on agriculture and second highest poverty rate. At the same time, on an average, Nepal has the lowest tariffs in South Asia and has taken several steps to downsize its public distribution system and remove a host of agricultural subsidies. This twin scenario where the lowest per capita income country is perhaps also the most liberalized makes for an interesting case for policy analysis. This paper reviews the outcomes from the liberalization policies followed by Nepal relating to food security." from Authors' Abstract

Draft bills and research reports on: reducing judicial corruption and child labor in Nepal

These two draft bills and accompanying research report comprise the work of two teams of Nepali officials from Nepal's Ministry of Law and Justice who prepared them in the context of the Boston University School of Law Program on Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change. They attended that Program as part of a larger Ministry of Law and Justice Program, funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to strengthen Nepal's legal framework and the Rule of Law. Using the bills and reports as case studies, the four officials aimed to learn legislative theory, methodology and techniques. The Ministry had assigned them, on their return to Nepal, to play a significant role in institutionalizing an on-going learning process to strengthen Nepali drafters' capacity to prepare the effectively implementable legislation necessary to ensure good governance and development

Screening of Promising Maize Genotypes Against Maize Weevil (Sitophilus Zeamais Motschulky) in Storage Condition

The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) is a serious pest of economic importance in stored grains. It causes major damage to stored maize grain thereby reducing its weight, quality and germination. An experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications to screen 32 maize genotypes against maize weevil in no-choice and free-choice conditions at Entomology Division, Khumaltar, Lalitpur (Room temperature: Maximum 24-32°C and Minimum 18-27°C). The findings showed that the maize genotypes had different response to maize weevil damage ranging from susceptible to tolerance. The genotypes Manakamana-3, Lumle White POP Corn and Ganesh-2 showed their tolerance to S. zeamais as evidenced by lower number of weevil emerged/attracted, lower amount of grain debris release and lower proportion of bored grains, while the genotype ZM-627 was the most susceptible to weevil damage in both tests. The other remaining genotypes were intermediate types. This information is useful to improve grain protection in storage and varietal improvement/release program

Developing a scalable training model in global mental health: pilot study of a video-assisted training Program for Generalist Clinicians in Rural Nepal.

BackgroundIn low- and middle-income countries, mental health training often includes sending few generalist clinicians to specialist-led programs for several weeks. Our objective is to develop and test a video-assisted training model addressing the shortcomings of traditional programs that affect scalability: failing to train all clinicians, disrupting clinical services, and depending on specialists.MethodsWe implemented the program -video lectures and on-site skills training- for all clinicians at a rural Nepali hospital. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate pre- and post-test change in knowledge (diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, and appropriate treatment). We used a series of 'Yes' or 'No' questions to assess attitudes about mental illness, and utilized exact McNemar's test to analyze the proportions of participants who held a specific belief before and after the training. We assessed acceptability and feasibility through key informant interviews and structured feedback.ResultsFor each topic except depression, there was a statistically significant increase (Δ) in median scores on knowledge questionnaires: Acute Stress Reaction (Δ = 20, p = 0.03), Depression (Δ = 11, p = 0.12), Grief (Δ = 40, p < 0.01), Psychosis (Δ = 22, p = 0.01), and post-traumatic stress disorder (Δ = 20, p = 0.01). The training received high ratings; key informants shared examples and views about the training's positive impact and complementary nature of the program's components.ConclusionVideo lectures and on-site skills training can address the limitations of a conventional training model while being acceptable, feasible, and impactful toward improving knowledge and attitudes of the participants

Coffee Production in Kavre and Lalitpur Districts, Nepal

Coffee (Coffea spp) is an important and emerging cash crop having potential to provide farmers employment and income generation opportunities. This crop is well adapted to the climatic conditions of mid-hills of Nepal. Thus, majority of the farmers are attracted towards cultivation of coffee because of demands in national and International market. Coffee is now becoming integral part of farming system in rural areas. However, information on performance of coffee and farmers response has not been well documented. Therefore, we undertook the present work to analyze demography, ethnicity, household occupation, literacy status, average land holding, coffee cultivation area, livelihood and sources of income of coffee growers, production and productivity, pricing, cropping pattern of the coffee and problesm faced by them in mid hill district of Kavrepalanchowk (hereafter ‘Kavre') and Lalitpur Districts. All the samples were taken randomly and selected from coffee producing cooperative of Kavre and Lalitpur. Our analysis showed that the male farmer dominant over female on adopting coffee cultivation in both districts with higher value in Kavre. Brahmin and Chetri ethnic communities were in majority over others in adopting the coffee cultivation. Literate farmers were more dominant over illiterates on adopting the coffee cultivation, The mean land holding was less, ranging from 0.15 to 2.30 ha for coffee cultivation, the history of coffee cultivation in Kavre showed that highest number of farmers were engaged in coffee farming from last 16 years. The mean yield of fresh cherry was 1027.20 kg/ha in Kavre, while it was 1849.36 kg/ha in Lalitpur. The study revealed that majority of the coffee plantations were between 6-10 years old. The major problems facing by coffee farmers were diseases spread, lack of irrigation facility and drying of plants. Despite of that the coffee farming was one of the rapidly emerging occupations among the farmers in both district of Nepal

Effect of Preceding Crops and Nitrogen Rates on Post Harvest Attributes Of Winter Hybrid Maize (Zea Mays L)

A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy research farm of IAAS, Rampur, chitwan, Nepal during summer and winter season 2010 and 2011 to study the effect of crop sequence and nitrogen rates on hybrid maize. There were thirty treatment combination consisting of six crop sequences, maize-maize, fallow-maize, greengram-maize, cowpea-maize, blackgram-maize, clusterbean-maize in main plots and five nitrogen rates 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 kg/ha in subplots with three replication.The research finding revealed that grain yield of maize was higher after summer legumes than after maize, fallow and clusterbean. Maximum grain yield of maize (4840 kg/ha in 2010 and 5230 kg/ha in 2011) was recorded under greengram-maize sequence followed by cowpea-maize, whereas the lowest grain yield was noted under maize-maize during both the years. Grain yield recorded with 200kg N/ha was maximum (6250 kg/ha in 2010 and 6548 kg/ha in 2011) while lowest yield (2296 kg/ha in 2010 and 2570 kg/ha in 2011) was under no nitrogen application. Maximum cob diameter (3.72 cm in 2010 and 3.85 cm in 2011) was recorded under greengram-maize sequence and it was minimum under maize-maize sequence. Cob diameter was maximum (3.78 cm in 2010 and 3.99 cm in 2011) with 200 kg N/ha while it was minimum at no nitrogen application. Cob length noted under cowpea-maize sequence was maximum (12.2 cm in 2010 and 12.8 cm in 2011) which was comparable to greengram – maize. While cob length was minimum under maize-maize sequences. Maximum cob length (12.5 cm in 2010 and 13.3 in 2011) was recorded with 200 kg N/ha and it was minimum under control. Maximum grain number per cob (334.6 in 2010 and 338.5 in 2011) was noted under greengram– maize sequences and minimum under fallow – maize in 2010 and under maize – maize in 2011. Grain number per cob was maximum 359.0 in 2010 and 364.0 in 2011 ) noted with 200 kg N/ha while it was minimum with no nitrogen during both the years . Maximum grain weight per cob (64. 5 g in 2010 and 65 .9 g in 2011) was recorded under cowpea– maize sequences which was comparable to greengram– maize sequences, while it was minimum under maize– maize. Grain weight per cob was maximum (80.0 g in 2010 and 82.0 g in 2011) recorded with 200 kg N/ha and it was minimum under no nitrogen application.Maximum 1000 grain weight (191.5 g in 2010 and 193.0 g in 2011) was recorded under greengram– maize sequence. While it was minimum under maize-maize sequence. 1000 grain weight was maximum (206.5 g in 2010 and 208 .0 g in 2011) with 200 kg N/ha and it was minimum with no nitrogen application. Stover yield was maximum (10504 kg/ha in 2010 and 11050 kg /ha in 2011) under greengram – maize sequences while it was minimum under maize– maize sequences. Maximum Stover yield (11922 kg /ha in 2010 and 12700 kg /ha in 2011) was recorded with 200 kg N/ha while it was minimum with no nitrogen application

Isolation and Screening of Potential Cellulolytic and Xylanolytic Bacteria From Soil Sample for Degradation of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Cellulolytic/Xylanolytic microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are accountable for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass in soil. Despite this vast number of cellulose/xylanase producers, there is a deficiency of microorganisms that can produce a significant amount of cellulase/xylanase enzyme to proficiently degrade cellulose/xylan to fermentable sugars. Although bacteria have extremely high natural diversity, which bestowsthem with the aptitude to produce stable enzymes, little emphasis has been given to cellulose/xylanase production from bacteria. Seven soil samples were collected from eastern hilly districts of Nepal viz. Taplejung, Panchthar and Sankhuwasabha districts, from soil surface and at depth of 10cm to 20cm, and were isolated separately. From the seven soil samples, four bacterial isolates were obtained. Isolates (PSS, P1D, TLC, SNK) were then screened for cellulolytic/xylanolytic activity using Congo red assay on Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)/xylan agar plates. The enzyme activity obtained from isolates was dependent on substrate concentration. The activity of enzymes produced by isolates were also measured and compared on pretreated sugarcane bagasse. Among those samples, the greatest zone of inhibition in both CMC (1.3 cm) and xylan (1.0 cm) agar media was seen in isolate P1D. It also produced the highest activity of endoglucanase and xylanase i.e. activity 0.035 U/mL and 0.050 U/mL respectively at 0.010 mg mL-1 standard substrate concentration of CMC and xylan