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The Status of Mechanisation in Nepal

Recent work in the Roadmaps project (in collaboration with CSISA and SRFSI) has focused on understanding the status of Agri-mechanisation across the Nepal Terai. In a newly published and open access publication with the Journal of Agricultural Systems, a complete picture of the agri-mechanisation status was explored.

Findings indicate that while agri-mechanisation is to date limited, there are large pools of potential adopters that could be quickly mobilised into mechanising their farms. This provides hope for the near future with farmers demanding mechanisation options. Closing exposure gaps and increasing access to machinery are likely to enable rapid mechanisation.

Visual Abstract and Manuscript Highlights

  • Measuring progress towards mechanisation is difficult, and many studies focus on tractors as a measure of mechanisation which does not tell the true story.
  • Few ways to measure agri-mechanisation progress exist leading to limited assessment of decades of activity in Nepal.
  • We apply a novel adoption framework to create a baseline of agri- mechanisation progress across the Nepal Terai.
  • Substantial exposure gaps and limited machinery ownership create a large pool of constrained potential adopters.
  • While limited to date, Nepal has the potential to rapidly mechanise if exposure gaps and usage constraints are ameliorated.
  • A method through which to understand adoption processes, drivers, status, and implications is provided for future studies
Click here for full article (Open Access)

Citation Details:
Brendan Brown, Gokul P. Paudel, Timothy J. Krupnik (2021) Visualising adoption processes through a stepwise framework: A case study of mechanisation on the Nepal Terai, Agricultural Systems (Volume 192)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103200

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X21001530)

… for more productive, profitable and resilient farming systems

The SRFSI project is a regional research for development collaboration of more than 30 partners, focused on the Eastern Gangetic Plains.