Prospects and Potentiality of Lentil in Nepal: Food Security and Trade Perspective

Abstract

Lentil (Lens esculenta) is considered a major food crop in terms of food and nutrition security in Nepal and is primarily grown in the lowland Terai and hilly region of Nepal. This study aimed to evaluate prospects and potentiality of lentil focusing on nutrition and trade perspectives. Secondary data was used for assessing the area of production, yield, coefficient of variation, instability index, and trade specialization index. The area for lentil production increased slightly in one decade, however its production has increased significantly during this period (2009-2019) The import value has soared at the rate of 22.7% per annum whereas the export value has decreased with 17% per annum. The trade specialization index was discovered 0.13, which indicates that the lentil is in the growth phase. The study provides sufficient information that it is necessary to surge the production and productivity to decrease the escalating imports while making the country independent in lentil production with an increased investment in research and development. Additionally, it is suggested to strength the Research and Development (R & D) in order to improve the productivity of lentil. More focus should be given in disseminating packages of Practices (POP). More focus needs to be given to develop policies and implement to encourage commercialization of lentil in order to meet the domestic demand and increase export.