Though predominantly an agricultural country, Nepal has often suffered from the unavailability of sufficient and high quality veterinary medicine. This has affected the livelihood of many farmers. While a majority of farmers still depend on beasts of burden for cultivation, especially for lack of modern agricultural tools and equipment, others earn their bread and butter through livestock farming. During the first general annual meeting of the Veterinary Medicine Import Council, held recently in the capital, participants claimed that the shortage of high-quality medicines in the market is mainly due to the absence of law to regulate its domestic production.

Furthermore, the legal hassles one has to go through to get the licence for production of medicines and fertilisers has made the otherwise bright prospects of this sector even bleaker. To make matters worse, the imposition of excessive Value Added Tax has put some of the most essential products beyond the reach of small farmers. Though issues of consumer rights have been raised time and again, farmers are yet to enjoy the privileges of what has so far been the exclusive domain of big consumers. As consumers, farmers should have every right to choose the products of highest quality, including agricultural tools. This, among others, has been the major objective of agrarian reforms introduced decades ago.