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Soil fertility management in the mid-hills of Nepal: Practices and perceptions

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Abstract

Sustaining soil fertility is essential to the prosperity of many households in the mid-hills of Nepal, but there are concerns that the breakdown of the traditional linkages between forest, livestock, and cropping systems is adversely affecting fertility. This study used triangulated data from surveys of households, discussion groups, and key informants in 16 wards in eastern and western Nepal to determine the existing practices for soil fertility management, the extent of such practices, and the perception of the direction of changes in soil fertility. The two principal practices for maintaining soil fertility were the application of farmyard manure (FYM) and of chemical fertilizer (mainly urea and diammonium phosphate). Green manuring, in-situ manuring, slicing terrace risers, and burning plant residues are rarely practiced. FYM usage was variable with more generally applied to khet land (average 6053 kg fresh weight manure ha−1) than to bari land (average 4185 kg fresh weight manure ha−1) with manure from goats and poultry preferred above that from cows and buffaloes. Almost all households (98%) apply urea to khet land and 87% to bari land, with 45% applying diammonium phosphate to both types of land. Application rates and timings of applications varied considerably both within and between wards suggesting poor knowledge transfer between the research and farming communities. The benefits of chemical fertilizers in terms of ease of application and transportation in comparison with FYM, were perceived to outweigh the widely reported detrimental hardening of soil associated with their continued usage. Among key informants, FYM applied in conjunction with chemical fertilizer was the most popular amendment, with FYM alone preferred more than chemical fertilizer alone – probably because of the latter’s long-term detrimental effects. Key informant and householder surveys differed in their perception of fertility changes in the last decade probably because of differences in age and site-specific knowledge. All key informants felt that fertility had declined but among households, only about 40% perceived a decline with the remainder about evenly divided between no change and an increase. Householders with small landholdings (< 0.5 ha) were more likely to perceive increasing soil fertility while those with larger landholdings (> 2 ha) were more likely to perceive declining fertility. Perceived changes in soil fertility were not related to food self-sufficiency. The reasons for the slow spread of new technologies within wards and the poor understanding of optimal use of chemical fertilizers in conjunction with improved quality FYM may repay further investigation in terms of sustaining soil fertility in this region.

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Abbreviations

FYM:

farmyard manure

PRA:

participatory rural appraisal

VDC:

Village Development Committee

asl:

above sea level

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, The University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Colin J. Pilbeam

  2. Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK

    Colin J. Pilbeam & Peter J. Gregory

  3. Hill Agriculture Research Project, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Sudarshan B. Mathema

  4. World Food Program, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Padma B. Shakya

Authors
  1. Colin J. Pilbeam
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  2. Sudarshan B. Mathema
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  3. Peter J. Gregory
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  4. Padma B. Shakya
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Correspondence to Colin J. Pilbeam.

Additional information

Colin Pilbeam graduated from the University of Oxford with an MA in Agriculture and Forest Sciences. He spent 11 years as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Soil Science, The University of Reading researching nitrogen and water dynamics in cropping systems in Kenya, Syria, and Nepal. He is now the manager of research programs at Cranfield School of Management.

Sudarshan Bhakta Mathema is a senior agricultural economist based in Kathmandu, Nepal. After serving the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in Nepal for 23 years, he joined the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization as the Farming Systems Economist for 2 years. Currently, Dr. Mathema is the Manager of the Hill Agriculture Research Project with the Department for International Development, UK. Dr Mathema has major expertise in the fields of farming systems research and development, participatory research and development, competitive grant systems, sustainable rural livelihoods, impact assessment, project management and implementation, agricultural extension methods, and various types of socio-economic research. He has worked as a consultant for various national and international institutes. He has published papers and reports in the field of agriculture, particularly focusing on Nepal.

Peter Gregory has been the Professor of Soil Science at the University of Reading since 1994. His research focuses on the interactions between plant roots and soils and on the development of sustainable systems of crop production. He has worked in Australia, Syria, Nepal, India, and West Africa and is the chair of Global Environmental Change and Food Systems – an international research project on food security.

Padma Bahadur Shakya is an Agricultural Economist who has worked for the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Nepal for more than 20 years. He has also been a short-term consultant for various national and international organizations such as FAO, the UN’s World Food Programme, Swiss Development Corporation, Asian Development Bank, JICA, HARP, and several local NGOs. Currently, he is affiliated with the Agriculture Perspective Plan Support Programme, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

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Pilbeam, C.J., Mathema, S.B., Gregory, P.J. et al. Soil fertility management in the mid-hills of Nepal: Practices and perceptions. Agric Hum Values 22, 243–258 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-004-8284-y

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