Need for Technology Advancements in Agriculture in Nepal
March 1, 2020 | DWAIPAYAN REGMI
With the rise in technological advancements, the impact of new technologies has been seen in every sector. From new ventures that are into practices like Pathao or Tootle to existing service channels like transportation, hospitality, etc – technologies have been integrated into almost every segment. These technological advancements have not only made our daily task easy but have made the entire flow of working procedure quicker, feasible and accessible. As a result, today despite any geographical boundary – people can book their tickets online, check their banking transactions from anywhere and even shop online.
Nepal had been recognized as an agricultural nation for a long time. After all, it’s agriculture that helped people to survive. The fertile land, enough labor force, and dynamism of climate has gifted Nepal a perfect place. Hence, the land of Nepal grows summer based fruits like Mango, Litchi to Oranges and Apples. There are berries found in Nepal too. Although the proportion of Nepalese farmers is declining every day, and there is the news of lands being barren – Nepalese have not given up their historical practice of farming; because of which still a large population of Nepal regards agriculture as their primary means of earning.
Farms and agricultural operations are entirely different than what it was a few decades ago globally. Today there are various technologies like new devices, machines, sensors, information technology, etc. There is the use of robots, temperature and moisture sensors along with aerial images and GPS technologies which has made the practice of agriculture different.
Why do we need new technology in agriculture?
This could be a crucial question that can mark impact. There are various reasons why agricultural technology can make the entire process different. They can turn out to be efficient and systematic anyway. Apart, the following are the major reasons that highlight the importance of agricultural technology:
Increased Worker’s Safety:
Complying to Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) these technologies can lead to an increase in safety precautions of the workers.
Optimum utilization of resources:
There will be optimum use of water, pesticides, fertilizer which will diminish the cost of production. It would be less likely that there would be any misuses around.
Environmental Concern:
Chemicals running into rivers or underground because of overflow would be drastically reduced and hence natural ecosystem would be taken well care of.
Increased Productivity:
The level of productivity will get high. As everything would go systematic and under a formal procedure, things would run out pretty easy hereby.
Time Efficient:
It is then important that the time required should be worth anything. The use of this modern technology can be time-efficient and would reduce labor costs at mass.
Why are we lagging?
We still are heavily dependent upon export, and we need to overcome the balance of trade out of it. Agriculturally, we can be independent for sure; but we need to move ahead with technology integration. This has been one major question – why do Nepalese lag behind regarding technology? While even in neighboring countries, we see that technologies being effectively used for agriculture; the Nepalese situation is poorly designed. There are not high expectations either, and the practice of traditional farming still exists. Technological benefits must be taught to the mass.
Following are the major reasons that explain why we lag in the use of technology.
Initial Cost:
The initial cost related to the purchase of machinery is relatively high. Here, we don’t even understand the long term impact and hesitate in making the initial investment. Apart, there are no huge subsidies for farmers to get motivated in the purchase of technologies related to this one. Hence, hesitation to invest in these technologies has been the primary reason why we are lagging regarding agricultural technology advancement.
Resistance to Change:
We don’t want anything new to come up, as we hesitate about if they are worthy enough or not. So, we prefer ox power than a tractor, and we hesitate in any such advancement. We still prefer traditional means to harvest, and traditional means to sow the seed. We don’t want to upgrade – because of fear of risk.
Lack of Awareness:
On an honest note, Nepalese mass is unaware of the modern equipment that is available around. Hence, they don’t have a clue about what modern equipment can do, how they can simplify their work either. So, when the power is at the local level, they should have been able to motivate the people highlighting the importance, but here the regulatory body seems to be failing.
Decreasing charm of agriculture:
Agriculture is the least preferred task as of now, and people don’t want to get involved in it. They choose other means to sustain their living – and are into another service field. Those youths from remote regions dream of flying abroad than working back for agriculture. As a result, the only remaining old mass doesn’t want anything new – naturally.
