Farmers in Nepal continue to suffer as politicians and businesses are against them

In 1972, the Nepal government established the National Potato Development Programme to develop the country’s agriculture sector hoping it would make the farmers in Nepal and the country itself self-sustaining.

But, five decades on, Nepal still has not been fully sustainable in potato farming let alone agriculture. In the past five months of the current fiscal year, Nepal has imported potatoes worth Rs 5.27 billion from India and Bangladesh. According to data made public by the Department of Customs , Nepal, on average, has i mported vegetables worth Rs 1.7 billion a month in the past five months. If you add grains like rice, lentils, maize and fruits, the figure is even higher as in the past few years, Nepal has imported food products in excess of Rs 200 billion a year.