BUCKET DRIP IRRIGATION KIT USE FOR VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
BUCKET DRIP IRRIGATION KIT USE FOR VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AND BUILDING WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE IN DROUGHT PRONE AREA OF KAPILVASTU DISTRICT, NEPAL Ajay K. Jha, Dr. Mohan Sharma, Sundar Tiwari, *Samsher Basnet, Chandra Puri, Tarendra Lakhankar, Nir Krakauer INTRODUCTION • • • • A kitchen garden is a place where herbs and vegetables are grown around the house for household use and this practice is exists since early times 1 More than 105 species of vegetable are cultivated to meet the daily need of rural people of Nepal 4 Over 80% of Nepal’s labor force works in the agricultural secter 3 Value of kitchen gardens for family health is paramount as it harbors wide range of genetic diversity and increases economic options for rural people 2 Monoculture in commercial production has pushed productive to unproductive land, diversity in family nutrition from kitchen garden will be key policy to combat present unhealthy trend 5 Seasonal fresh vegetables are used to grow near the house, various local varieties such as radish, broad leaf mustard, chili, beans, pumpkins etc. are all grown in the kitchen garden 4 For an active adult nutritional recommendations in Nepal are for 2200 kcal per day per adult, which should be fulfilled by variety of sources 6 The primary crops grown in kitchen gardens were cucumber (27 kcal/100 g), sponge gourd (26 kcal/100 g), okra (35 kcal/100 g), cabbage (27 kcal/100 g) and cauliflower (27 kcal/100 g)6 According to FAO and WHO vegetable consumption person should be 146 Kg per annum 7 Iron deficiency affects about 50% of the world population predominantly in the developing countries 7 Major problem for vegetable cultivation in water scarce area is irrigation, disease and pest Most of the people in rural areas are suffered from variety of nutrient deficiency that are found in fresh vegetable which they do not grow due to the lack of appropriate technology for drought season Site was selected in water scarce area at Buddhabatika municipality of Kapilvastu District which lies around 5 Km north from the east west Mahendra highway from Gorusinge. OBJECTIVES • This study aim was to identify and investigate the efficacy of bucket drip irrigation for vegetable production in kitchen gardens by women farmers in a drought prone areas of Kapilvastu, Nepal. METHODS Selection of farmer • Respondents were selected based on involvement of vegetable production in kitchen garden with the use of drip kits. • Marginal farmers with low production in drought prone area of terai due to the lack of irrigation water during hot summer months are main target for the adoption of drip kits. Household Survey • A structured questionnaire was administered to 25 drip irrigation kit users at Ward no. 3 of Buddhabatika municipality in Kapilvastu District. • Survey questions were related to the economic status, cost of production, quantity of vegetable produced, problems during cultivation and quantity of vegetable produced from the conventional system in previous year and under drip irrigation in current year. • Production from each household approx. 20 m 2 kitchen garden plot was also recorded once after each season’s final harvest. • Data were analyzed with SPSS and paired sample T- test used to test whether differences after drip irrigation started being used were significant or not. RESULTS Key Findings • Following results were derived from the household survey • Average production of vegetables increased by 43% in drip irrigated plots as compared to traditional manual irrigation (82 kg as compared to 58 kg/plot). • With the use of drip irrigation in the kitchen gardens, the percentage of farmers who sold their products in market increased from 59% to 78%, with the remaining 22% still using the vegetables only for home consumption. • Further, the average income generated by the kitchen garden under drip irrigation (NR 1489) was significantly greater than that previously generated under traditional irrigation (NR 1305; P =0. 01). • The benefit-cost ratio was found to be 2. 5 and 1. 6 respectively for drip irrigation vs. traditional irrigation management. • Survey responses and field observations suggest that the higher productivity of drip irrigation is due to increased water use efficiency and fewer weedy plants. Average Vegetable production in (kg) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Without Drip kits Before the use of drip kit (2013/014) With Drip kits sells vegetable in market do not sells vegetable in market 59% Conclusion After the use of drip kit (2014/015) 78% 41% 22% do not sell • The kitchen garden bucket drip kits was introduced as a model for women in villages to save water and increase diverse nutritional vegetable production for household use and sale. • Women in that area have formed cooperatives to sell vegetables to the market, giving them needed additional income. • Disease and pest problems are also seen in all the plots, ecological management will be effective and that will helps for healthy vegetable production. • Due to the small production area of Kitchen garden there is huge scope of sustainable production of diversified crops that will lead to nutritional security in rural area. • This nutritional and economic empowerment was seen to boost women’s confidence and further economic development, and is feasible to scale up throughout the region. References 1 Chris Evans, A farmers handbook (2001). Himalayan permaculture group. (chapter 2) 2 Helen Keller International, (2001). Home gardening in hilly and terai areas in Nepal: Impact on food production and consumption. HKI Nutrition Bulletin 1(1): 1 -4. 3 Karkee M. Nepal Economic Growth Assessment Agriculture. USAID Nepal. 4 Gautam, R. , Suwal, R and Basnet, S. B. , (2005). Enhancing contribution of home gardens to on farm management of plant genetic resources and to improve livelihoods of Nepalese farmers, Findings of Baseline survey of four project sites (Jhapa, Ilam, Rupandehi and Gulmi), LIBIRD, Po Box 324, Pokhara, Nepal 5 Johns. T and Sthapit B R. , (2004). Biocultural diversity in the sustainability of developing country food systems. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 25(2): 143 -155. 6 Food composition table for Nepal, (2012). MOAD, DFTQC. Babarmahal, Kathmandu. 2008. http: //pdf. usaid. gov/pdf_docs/PNADN 016. pdf. 7 WHO. (2004). Comaparative Quantification of Health Risks. Geneva: WHO. Acknowledgements • Ajay K. Jha, Director, Institute for Global Agriculture & Technology Transfer (IGATT), Fort Collins, Colorado, USA • Mohan Sharma, Professor, Director of Directorate of Continuing Education Centre, AFU, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal • Sundar Tiwari, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, AFU, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal • Tarendra Lakhankar, Assistant Professor, City University of New York, USA • Nir Y. Krakauer, Associate Professor, City University of New York, USA • Chandra Puri, PG Student, Department of Horticulture, Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Rampur Chitwan, Nepal Project Support: Feed the Future USAID IPM Innovation Lab : Participatory Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment for Integrated Pest Management in the Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape, Nepal Contact Samsher Basnet, Post Graduate Student, Department of Entomology, Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal samsher. basnet 7@gmail. com
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