TOPICS
KATHMANDU, JANUARY
Embattled Ukraine, braving rains of missiles, exports grains to Africa to save its impoverished people from hunger and starvation. Ukraine's president magnanimously declared that he would not allow people to die of hunger when Russia tried to throw a spanner on export from the Black Sea.
Fortunately, Nepal, which ranks among the poorest, does not seem to have any problem with food shortages. Despite talks of wheat embargoes off and on, India, one of the largest wheat producers at its doorstep, continues to export wheat, fuel, bikes and autos to Nepal unhindered. Our traders gripe that India sent 50,000 tons of cereals instead of 500,000, and the country produces only 40 per cent of our wheat requirement. So, the traders continue to use the Ukraine war as a schtick to sell their foodstuff at inflated rates. By the grace of Lord Pashupatinath, not a single Nepali has starved to death from a lack of food.
Food import is, however, a short-term solution. Could we skip some meals? We did this a lot during our young days, and there is no reason we cannot do it now. Too much food is bad for our health anyway. How can we meet our soaring food demand? We have no option but to produce our food requirement. But honestly, how can we achieve food self-sufficiency?
There is good news in the media, which mentions our rice production is bound to jump this fiscal on good monsoon. But it is still way below our potential. We should ride on the current success and keep the momentum going. We might be able to export grains again and bring in foreign currency.
We keep blaming everything on the export of the youth force for labour. But labour export brings us invaluable remittances, which we need for the import of essential as well as luxury goods. Until we have a primary export product or two to bring in enough foreign currency, we need remittances which have proved to be our lifeline.
To grow more rice, we need several things, including the best machine tools and implements, seeds and fertilisers that meet the Ukrainian standard, irrigation and labour to work in the fields. We have enough labour force to press on the farm without disrupting migrant jobs.
Our people, especially from the west, work seasonally or full-time on Indian farms. Could we surmise that they contribute significantly to the record production of agricultural commodities in India, including wheat and rice? We could sustain our farming by importing labour, too.
We can also use the reward culture for cement and iron rod producers in agriculture, tourism and migrant labour.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 5, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
