Nepal - Region Profile
Nepal, officially the Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres and a population of approximately 27 million (and nearly 2 million absentee workers living abroad), Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. It lies between latitudes 26° and 31°N, and longitudes 80° and 89°E. Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012 was estimated at over $17.921 billion (adjusted to Nominal GDP). In 2010, agriculture accounted for 36.1%, services comprise 48.5%, and industry 15.4% of Nepal's GDP. While agriculture and industry is contracting, the contribution by service sector is increasing.
Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce in Nepal. Agricultural produce – mostly grown in the Terai region bordering India – includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane and root crops. Vegetables make up over one-third of the total GDP contribution from the agricultural sector. Per capita availability of fresh vegetables increased to 86.4 kg in 2008/09, which is a significant rise from 66.7 kg recorded in 2001-02. Table 1 illustrates the current area, productivity and production statistics of major crops in Nepal. Nutrient consumption in Nepal in the past decade is given in Fig. 2. There was a sharp drop in nutrient consumption, particularly N and P, between 2003-04 and 2005-06. Using the area and production of major crops, the total nutrient (N, P2O5 and K2O) removal by each crop was calculated and a nutrient balance sheet was prepared (table 2).
Table 1: Latest Crop Production Statistics of Nepal-2012-13
Parameters | Rice | Wheat | Maize | Total Cereals | Total Pulses |
Area | 1531.493 | 765.317 | 871.387 | 3485 | 296 |
Production | 5072.248 | 1846.142 | 2179.414 | 9458 | 283 |
Productivity | 3312 | 2412 | 2501 | 2714 | 956 |
Table 2: Nutrient balance sheet for major crops of Nepal (2012-13)
Crop | Area (in '000 ha) | Production (in '000 tonnes) | Nutrient Removal (kg/tonne) | Total Removal (tonnes) | ||||
N | P2O5 | K2O | N | P2O5 | K2O | |||
Rice | 1531.493 | 5072.248 | 20.1 | 11.2 | 30 | 101952.2 | 56809.18 | 152167.4 |
Wheat | 765.317 | 1846.142 | 24.4 | 8.6 | 32.8 | 45045.86 | 15876.82 | 60553.46 |
Maize | 871.387 | 2179.414 | 8.2 | 3.1 | 15.5 | 17871.19 | 6756.183 | 33780.92 |
Total Pulses | 296 | 283 | 40 | 5 | 20 | 11320 | 1415 | 5660 |
Total removal by major crops | 176189.2 | 80857.18 | 252161.8 | |||||
Total fertilizer consumption in Nepal | 20000 | 20000 | 1000 | |||||
Consumption * Efficiency factor | 8000 | 6000 | 700 | |||||
Balance/Deficit | -168189 | -74857.2 | -251462 |
*Crop production and fertilizer use data are retrieved from Fertiliser Statistics, 2013-14, The Fertiliser Association of India, New Delhi