Vice President concerned over growing dependency on agricultural import

KATHMANDU, June 22: Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has said country’s dependence on import of agricultural products has reached the highest point.

While addressing the eighth Food Conference organized by Nepal Food Scientist and Technologist Association in the capital today, the vice president said Nepal’s abundant possibility for agricultural development remained unutilized, thus increasing country’s agricultural dependence (on foreign countries).

Also speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Agriculture, Ram Kumari Chaudhary said the agriculture was the priority of the state.

“The constitution has guaranteed citizen’s right to food,” she said, pledging to take various measures to ensure food security.

In the two-day program, over 60 working papers on different topics will be presented.

The government has set a target of doubling the agricultural production within the next five years through sustainable development of the agro sector. Nepal tentatively produces 5.2 million metric tons of rice, 2.1 million metric tons of corn and 900,000 metric tons of wheat in a year.

Nepal spends over Rs 500 million in the import of food per month while its current trade deficit with India is over 600 billion.