Last Friday, the farmers of Chitwan poured their anger and pain on the streets along with vegetables. Farmers complain that the government does not give proper price and recognition to the marketing of vegetables grown by Nepali farmers by importing foreign vegetables.
Foreign vegetables directly enter Nepal and they take the place of Nepali vegetables. Consumers buy foreign vegetables in the name of cheapness, but when the vegetables grown by Nepali farmers do not get a reasonable price, the farmers are forced to throw the vegetables on the streets without being able to use them. Due to the lack of chemical fertilizers, lack of irrigation, lack of seeds and high prices, the farmers of Chitwan became angry and threw vegetables on the road to draw the government’s attention to their plight.Scenes like sometimes throwing vegetables on the street, sometimes pouring milk into drains or sometimes breaking eggs are becoming regular occurrences in Nepal.
Such scenarios attract the attention of many people, but local and central governments have not taken any concrete steps to solve their problems in the long term.The Indian government gives subsidies to farmers, gives cheap fertilizers, seeds, etc., that’s why Indian vegetables are imported into Nepal at cheap prices. Nepali products should compete with Indian cheap vegetables. Every item in the kitchen is imported. In Nepal, which has a lot of arable land, daily consumables like vegetables are not produced here, but because imported vegetables are cheap, domestic vegetables are not getting the price.Indian vegetables occupy 40 percent share in the vegetable market of Kathmandu Kalimati. Real farmers do not get subsidized loans, only those who have access to them get them.
The situation is the same in the case of grants. The government should ensure that the farmers get the market for their products by working out the minimum support price for vegetables and fruits. It is the government’s duty to find a way to address the farmers’ demand of stopping imports. The best way to modernize agriculture is to make domestic products cheaper than foreign ones. A normal program does not do that. The government should launch a vigorous campaign.
A long-term plan should be brought and implemented. Some government officials also say that because vegetables are brought in cheaply through border crossings informally than through customs points, the produce of Nepal is not getting the price. If the illegal entry of vegetables through the border is causing problems to the production of Nepal, then the main task of the government is to tighten the customs inspection. This incident in Chitwan is not new.
Such incidents are discussed and debated for a few days and then fade away. As the government does not give first priority to domestically produced agricultural products, imported products are occupying the market. In an agricultural country, it is a very sad matter for farmers to take to the streets with pain. The local government and state government should be more responsible in this regard. Since the production of small and marginal farmers is small, they cannot compete with international production, but the state should not treat farmers as if they are competing with international production. And this is not even possible.
According to government statistics, agricultural produce comes to Nepal from more than 150 countries. 99 to 100 percent subsidy has been given on most of the farmers’ crops in India. Nepali products cannot compete with products produced with such a large subsidy. India sells high quality goods at high prices to other countries. It is the old manners and behavior that he sends to Nepal, only poor things that do not make a difference even if thrown away.
However, even the quality products produced by hard work in Nepal have not got a fair price in the market. Nepal is also involved in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Nepal-India bilateral trade agreements have also been signed. Keeping these things in mind, it is necessary to form a mobile team to monitor those who have entered from the border with documents. This work is related not only to the Ministry of Agriculture but also to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply in terms of bilateral trade.
Therefore, on this issue it is necessary to coordinate inter-ministerially as a whole. The production of vegetables in Nepal is increasing every year. However, there has been no decrease in imports. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, vegetable production has increased by an average of 2.28 percent during the last decade. According to the available data of the Ministry, in the financial year 2077-078, the vegetable production increased by 0.78 percent, and a total of 93 thousand 167 metric tons was produced at 39 lakh rupees.
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