According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data (2016), only 4.6 million people are food secure in Nepal, it indicates that only 15-16% of Nepalese have easy access to foods. According to DHS data 20 percent of households mildly food-insecure, 22 percent moderately food-insecure, and 10 percent severely food-insecure in Nepal. Among the household suffering food insecurity are simultaneously suffering from malnutrition.
Even though, Nepal is agricultural country, food security is still a burning question and a challenge. Many challenges at ground level (such as labour scarcity, poor technical knowledge and traditional tools of farming) and in policy level (such as poor infrastructures, poor policy, poor implementation of policies) are main causes behind this unfortunate situation in Nepali agriculture. Whatever the matter, however, many Nepali are still under hunger and poverty.
In addition, the geographic condition is another level of different opportunity in Nepal to explore organic farming in many hilly areas. Most of the hilly areas are less accessible for transportation facilities, therefore, transportation of agri-input such as fertilizers are quite bit challenging. In addition, even it is accessible to transport agri-input in plain areas, there are very limited agri-inputs available in market. So there is always an opportunity to maintain soil fertility by other alternative way such as integration of pulses.
Pulses are one of the potential crops to overcome the aforementioned challenges in Nepali agriculture because they have most significant benefits to support food security and soil fertility.
Image: Different types of pulsesWhy pulses crops for food security?
1. To support food source
Pulses are important food crops where more than one fourth of the world’s food come from pulse grains and are considered the second most important food source after cereals. Nepal is a big consumer of pulses because of having a tradition to have daal in everyday meal. Nepal has special value for pulses to make daal which is most necessary item in our everyday meal. Out of the dall, there are many food items can be made from pulses as staple food in everyday meal. Pulses are rich in minerals, vitamins and fibre therefore, these crops can meet easily the energy requirement in people which indicate that pulses can be significant healthy alternative to rice and other food source. This further reflects that, along with rice if we develop habit to have pulses commonly then it would support the food security among people who can not manage rice for whole 12 years because of many challenges.
Nepal has terrible import history for pulses items from all over the world to meet the daily pulse requirement. If we integrate pulses in our agriculture, first it will support healthy diet for people, support food source and help to minimize the import trend to save money.
2. To mitigate malnutrition
Many people in Nepal do not meet the enough income to support daily protein requirement. Pulses are considered as 'poor man's meat' and are meat alternative as they have the equivalent protein source compared with meat (38 %) which make pulses important in the human diet. Therefore, pulses can be significant alternative to fill the protein requirement gap among the poor people and provide daily protein requirement. In general, pulses are a crucial source of nutrients for the human diet, and contain a range of complex carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals.
Why pulses crops for agriculture?
1. Help to increase cereal yield
Pulses are an important part of a rotation crop system and intercropping with cereals which contribute to increase crop yield. Cereals in rotation with legumes and after using as break crop increase cereal’s yield in next cycle. Research suggested that wheat yield increases 60% more after two successive break crops with legumes such as in spring wheat-field pea-chickpea-lentil-oriental mustard rotation such as , the most profitable rotation is lentil-lentil-lentil-wheat gave $235 Yr-1ha-1 net revenue in Canada.
2. Help to increase soil fertility
Pulses are important for sustainable agriculture because they provide economical, ecological and environmental benefits. The ability of legumes to access fixed atmospheric nitrogen reduces dependency on external nitrogen fertilizer, therefore reducing dependence on fossil fuel to produce the fertilizer.
Nepal is mainly depend on rainfed farming system because of not having proper irrigation system. People have to wait for natural rainfall or have to cultivate in marginal and poor fertile lands. Mainly hilly areas are always suffer from nutrient leaching and runoff and remain poor fertile. However, pulses have ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and have always low input to high output value. Even in marginal and poor land pulses always give satisfactory return.
In pulse-cereal intercropping system, pulse can fix large amounts of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and help to reduce external application of inorganic fertilizers. Therefore after reduction of external use of nitrogen based fertilizer, it is more likely to prevent nitrogen runoff and then prevent pollution of waterways as well.
3. help to control weeds and insects in agriculture
Furthermore, pulses are useful crops to break crops to control diseases, pests and weeds. Planting pulses as cover crops reduce or eliminate follow period and provide roots and aboveground biomass in winter and into the spring to directly compete with weeds. The pulse cover crops block the direct sunlight to weed seeds, therefore help to prevent germination of weeds.
What are the significant relevance for integration of pulses in Nepali agriculture?
1. Many people in Nepal are still under the line of hunger and poverty. The malnutrition is main problem for these people. Therefore, pulses (Poor man's meat) are best alternative support food support and nutrient requirement to these people.
2. Nepal is big consumer of pulses items for daal. Therefore, integration of pulses in commercial level will increase pulse production within Nepal and prevent the money going to foreign countries to import pulses.
3. nepal have many marginal lands and have poor soil fertility. In another hand there is always challenge to manage enough chemical fertilizers to support planting season every year. Furthermore, there is always challenge to transport chemical fertilizers in hilly areas. Therefore, it is always an golden opportunity to integrate pulses to increase soil fertility for poor soil plus to utilize marginal land to get some return from pulses. Pulses can give high return even in marginal land.
Pulses always help to increase yield in successive fellow cereal crops. In addition, they help to prevent insects and weed control.
Hence, because of significant multiple benefits of pulses and it's high demand in Nepal, integration of pulses will definitely result very good impact to improve Nepalese agriculture.
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