Nepal,agriculture&fruits

The kingdom of Nepal is a small and totally land locked mountainous country in South Asia. It is situated between 26°22’ and 30°27’ north latitude and 80°4’ and 88°12’ east longitude. It is surrounded by India to the East, South and West and by the Tibetan region of China to the North. The shape of the country is somewhat rectangular measuring 880 km from East to West and 130 to 240 km in width. The total geographical area of the country is 147,181 square km. The population of the kingdom was 21.4 million in 1996/97 with an annual growth rate of 2.1 percent. Per capita GDP was very low in 1996/97 (US$200). The total cultivable area is 3.96 million hectares of which 2.97 million ha are under cultivation. The irrigated area is only 26% of the total cultivated land; the rest depends largely on monsoon rain, 80% of which is received during June to September.
Nepal is a predominantly agricultural country. Agriculture is the lead sector for the national economy and accounts for about 42% of the GDP. About 81.1% of the population or about 3.3 million families are engaged in agriculture. Land holding per family of 5-6 members is 6.5 ha in the hills and 1.8 ha in the terai.
The Nepalese hill economy is characterized by typical subsistence agriculture based on cereal crops, and is practiced on terraces of often very steep slopes which are subjected to a great loss of top soil by erosion during heavy rain. Hilly soil is generally acidic and with poor nutrient content, especially nitrogen.
Administratively, the country is divided into 75 districts and five development regions, namely, Eastern (16 districts), Central (19 districts), Western (16 districts), Mid-Western (15 districts) and Far-Western (9 districts)
2. PRESENT SITUATION OF DECIDUOUS FRUIT PRODUCTION
At present, deciduous fruits are considered as the most important fruit crops of Nepal. These fruits are grown successfully in mid and high mountainous areas from the Eastern to the far Western zone of the country. Sub-humid and dry temperate areas in the inter Himalaya region where the elevation ranges from 1800-2800 m.a.s.l. are considered to be most suitable for particularly high quality apple production. Such rainshadow or low rainfall areas are located in the Western and mid Western mountainous regions. On the other hand, the humid temperate regions where the rainfall is high and are fairly wet throughout the growing period are suitable for the cultivation of other deciduous fruits. Some low chilling (<1000 hrs) apple cultivars are being grown at low altitudes, as low as 1200 m.a.s.l. Tables 2, 3 and 4 show the total area, production and productivity of fruits in Nepal as well as potential districts for commercial production.