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Cereal crops have played major roles in addressing food security issues in Nepal. In recent years there have been fluctuations in crop production and demands situations due to various reasons. Thus, the present study aims to analyze the dynamics of major cereals productivity in Nepal from 1995 to 2014. Focus group discussions were done in mid-hills and tarai of Nepal in 2015. Percentage change, compound growth rate, annual rate of change, coefficient of variation, instability index were calculated to analyze results. The result shows that the area, production and productivity of major cereals had an increasing trend over the study period. The major factors contributing on productivity increase in cereal crops were irrigation facilities, use of improved and hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizer and better technical knowhow among the farmers. For effective adoption of research outputs to improve the productivity emphasis should also be given on promotion of public private partnership (PPP) in research and development.

Tourism is the movement or travel of people from one place to another; whether it is within their own country or to other countries, for pleasure, business, pilgrimage and other purpose. The evolution of tourism dates back to ancient times. In Nepal, tourism, despite having a long history was, developed since 1950s only. The recent trend of tourists' arrival in Nepal seems satisfactory. However, from the perspective of tourism based resources and its availability in the country seems rather pessimistic. To promote tourism sector and its contribution to socio-economic sector of the country, we need to utilize available resources properly and beneficially. For this, there is need of dynamic and tourism friendly policy and joint effort of the government and the private sector as well.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjsa.v5i0.7039 Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology-Vol. V (2012) 54-75

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This paper deals with groundwater hydrology at a prominent fracture zone landslide slope (Nuta-Yone landslides) in Japan with an objective to explore an efficient method for the application of landslide stability enhancement measures. The correlation analyses between the hydrological parameters and ground surface movement data at this landslide resulted in low correlation values indicating that the geological formation of the area is extremely complex. For the purpose of understanding the groundwater flow behavior in the landslide area, a three-dimensional transient groundwater flow model was prepared for a part of the landslide slope, where the levels of effectiveness of applied landslide stability enhancement measures (in the form of multilayered deep horizontal drains) are different, and was calibrated against the measured water surface elevations at different piezometer locations. The parameter distributions in the calibrated model and the general directions of the groundwater flow in terms of flow vectors and the results of particle tracking at the model site were interpreted to understand the reasons for variations in effectiveness of existing landslide stability enhancement measures and to find potentially better locations for the implementation of future landslide stability enhancement measures. From the modeling results, it was also understood that groundwater flow model can be effectively used in better planning and locating the landslide stability enhancement measures.

This study was carried out to measure the research investment in major cereals, namely, rice, maize and wheat, and identify the general adoption status of their released varieties in Nepal. Financial resource use was derived from disaggregated expenditure whereas human resource use was approximated from full time equivalent (FTE) of researchers in each crop through questionnaire survey. Information regarding the farmers' adoption was collected through group interaction with extension staff in selected hill and Terai districts from each of five geographical regions of the country. The variety development cost was Rs. 38.1 million in maize, 15.8 million in wheat, and 14.6 million in rice during 2001-2010 at 2000/01price. Of the total FTE researchers, 35 in rice, 28 in wheat and 18 in maize were involved in various disciplines of the crop research whereas 8 FTE researchers were involved in breeding of each of the crops. Among the most common rice varieties, Khumal-4 was adopted in 55% area in Kavre district, Radha-12 was adopted in 40% area in Sunsari district and Radha-4 was adopted in 70% area in Banke district in the main season. Indian hybrid maize was common in most of the Terai districts with maximum adoption in 95% area in Bara district. Among the popular wheat varieties, Gautam was common in hill and Terai districts with the adoption range from 30 to 50% of total wheat area. Compared with maize and wheat, adoption of improved rice varieties was relatively low since high yielding and suitable rice varieties were still lacking for various domains.

Abstract. Rice is a major cereal crop that ensures food security and rural income generation in Nepal. The objectives of this study were to analyse the dynamics of the rice sub-sector from the perspective of production, research investment, and supply chain as expected outcomes are not yet achieved in spite of continuity in priority for research and production investment. Accordingly, this study was done by using secondary data covering 2000 to 2018 combined with a case study. For the case study, Morang, the district with the highest rice production was chosen. A random sample of 144 supply chain actors in which 100 rice producers, 10 collectors, 10 wholesalers, 7 millers, and 17 retailers were chosen from the list of the targeted population in each category. Findings revealed that rice production, productivity, and research investment were increasing at the rate of 1.25, 1.65, and 10.57 percent per annum, respectively. There was a strong positive link between research investment and production. Millers were the main value-adding actor. They have been getting the highest profit margin (31.5%) based on investing more (46.51%) in value-added activities. In contrast, farmers received a relatively low-profit margin (13.9%) with a 1.26 benefit-cost ratio. This was mainly due to the low adoption of improved production technology and weak horizontal coordination of rice producers. The percentage of food surplus households has increased, mainly due to the adoption of rice technologies generated by rice research programs, but this has not well reflected in terms of getting more profit margin by the rice-producing farmers. On the other hand, the research investment in rice was not consistent, and even not adequate for the required technology generation. Therefore, an increased investment could enhance the efficiency of generating technology packages, and implementation of effective extension services targeting the rice-growing farmers through increasing total factor productivity is crucial to increase the profit margin of rice producers. Moreover, with strengthened horizontal coordination among the major actors and with the increased investment in value-added activities in each stage of the supply chain based on consumer demand, increased profit margin for making the rice supply chain sustainable.

Household survey and focus group discussion (FGD) were carried out in year 2017/18 in Sindhuli and Ramechhap districts in order to identify scope and constraints for better sweet orange production. A semi-structured questionnaire acquiring household and orchard information, production, post-harvest operation as well as marketing situation was administered in the survey of 60 and 62 households in Sindhuli and Ramechhap, respectively. Prior to household survey, a FGD was carried out in each site of Sindhuli and Ramechhap to collect general information and cross check the individual response. Poor orchard management, lack of irrigation, infestation of a number of insects including fruit fly, infection of a number of diseases as well as lack of financial facilities were reported as key constraints to grow sweet orange industries in these districts. The yield of sweet orange was found less than national average yield in both survey sites. Various measures to increase production and to improve post-harvest quality of fruits have been suggested based on situation analysis.