Nepal's Export Basket, Cardamom in first export priority including other seven farm products

A government study has identified 19 goods and services as having the highest export potential and delisted a number of products that have traditionally been major exports. The Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010 launched on Thursday has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of these 19 areas and their socio-economic impact.

Among the farm products having huge potential are cardamom, ginger, honey, lentil, tea, noodles, medicinal herbs and essential oils. Likewise, handmade paper, silver jewellery, iron and steel, pashmina and wool products are other products with high potential from the craft and industrial good segments.

Services including tourism, labour, information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) services, health services, education, engineering and hydro-electricity have been identified as having high export potential.

The report has recommended that Nepal focus its short- and medium- term efforts on these 19 goods and services and that agro food and service exports get an even higher priority. Launching the report, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the government would give high priority to promoting the identified goods and services in the national development plans and polices. He also stressed the need for collaborated efforts on the part of all the stakeholders.

The report has also mentioned transit trade services, sugar, cement, dairy products and transformers as emerging sectors with possible export potential. The report said that due to changing market access conditions, traditional exports such as garments and carpets have suffered a heavy decline while a few others such as pashmina and wool products have survived. “New sectors such as iron and steel products, plastic granules, coffee, tea, spices and vegetables have emerged over the period 2004 to 2008,” the report said.

During the period 2004-08, exports of iron and steel products grew by 52.6 percent while essential oil exports also soared by 40.2 percent. Likewise, the export of instant noodles witnessed a rise of 36.9 percent while tea also went up by 36.1 percent. Ginger and cardamom exports went up by 34 percent and 16.2 percent respectively during the period. Nepal’s export destinations have also changed along with its export basket over the period.

India’s status as the largest export destination has been maintained, but the European Union and the US are becoming less important while Asian and Gulf countries have emerged as major markets for the country.

Source: KATHMANDU POST Daily

आकाशिदो अलैंचीको बजार भाउ

फुङलिङ -ताप्लेजुङ, जेष्ठ ४ -

अलैंचीको मूल्यले यो साता नयाँ रेकर्ड कायम गरेको छ । जेठको पहिलो दिनबाटै उकालो लागेको अलैंची बजार लगातार बढ्दै नयाँ रेकर्डमा पुगेको हो ।

अलैंचीको बजार भाउ मंगलबार प्रतिमन ३६ हजार पुगेको अलैंची व्यवसायी संघले जनाएको छ । यो हिसाबले अलैंची किलोको ९ सय रुपैयाँ पर्न आउँछ । संघका अनुसार अलैंचीको खपत नियमित तेस्रो मुलुकमा भइरहँदा मूल्य आकासिएको हो । स्वदेशी बजारमा अलैंची नभएको, भएको जति सबै भारत हँुदै तेस्रो मुलुक पुगेकाले मूल्य आकासिएको संघका अध्यक्ष खड्गबहादुर मोक्तानले बताए । उत्पादनका हिसाबले राम्रो आम्दानी दिने नगदे बालीका रूपमा रहेको अलैंची अघिल्लो वर्ष ८ हजार रुपैयाँ प्रतिमनमा कारोबार भएको थियो ।

ताप्लेजुङ उद्योग वाणिज्य संघका अध्यक्ष दिनेश अधिकारी भरपर्दो आम्दानीको स्रोत मानिएको अलैंचीको मूल्य बढ्दा पहाडी क्षेत्रका बासिन्दाको आर्थिक अवस्थमा सुधार आउने बताउँछन् ।पहाडी क्षेत्रका ताप्लेजुङ, पाँचथर, इलाम, तेह्रथुम, धनकुटा, संखुवासभा, भोजपुरलगायत जिल्लामा अलैंची उत्पादन हुँदै आएको छ ।

ताप्लेजुङ नेपालमै सबैभन्दा बढी अलैंची उत्पादन हुने जिल्ला हो । यो वर्ष मात्रै जिल्लाले अनुमानित १ अर्ब २० करोडभन्दा बढीको अलैंचीको कारोबार गरेको उद्योग वाणिज्य संघले जनाएको छ । -कांतिपुर दैनिक बाट साभार

Alder-Cardamom Combination:An example of ecologically and socio-economically sustainable agro-ecosystem

(अलईची-उतीस )
Alder-Cardamom intercropping is economically, a very promising farming practice of certain mid hill of Nepal, India and Bhutan.The Large cardamom is a perennial under shrub that is cultivated in shed of alder tree. These sympatric species best thrives on shadowy, moist and degraded land. Under the canopy of alder, the ecosystem provides protection and support function to the cardamom. This is the best example of human introduced species interacting for best economic return. Farmers give priorities to grow and save the alder tree to increase the cardamom production rather than its own return. High economic return and well-established market of cardamom lured the farmer and expanded the cultivation niche as mushroom growth. Now the plantation of cardamom is not limited only in marginal land and river and stream bank but it succeed to cover all arable as well as non arable land from its suitable agro climatic zone. If we consider the Nepal situation, thousands of farmer from eastern Nepal have cardamom cultivation as their primary occupation. Positive impact of cardamom yield under alder canopy than other tree species (Singh and Singh 1996; Sharma et al 2000; Sharma et al 2002) motivated the farmer to remove other species though they are the high quality timber tree than alder. Even during cardamom drying time, they cut down the alder tree very carefully so that it damages very few cardamom bushes. Apart from its high-income value, it is not labor intensive, a low-volume, non-perishable crop. The nitrogen fixation capacity of alder as root nodule, and high voluminous foliose of cardamom and alder enrich the soil. Cardamom agro forestry is almost a closed system that does not depend on external inputs . It can be argue that there is no input except human labor. Energy fixation, storage, net allocation in agro-economic yield and heat release and exist from the alder-cardamom forest is higher in any other type of tree-cardamom combination (Sharma et al 2002). Odum (2007) has stated that the yields of crop in agro forestry system are less than open field but it is reverse in this agro forestry system. Removal of other tree species and under-shrub plant reduced the plant diversity, which should have to be more vulnerable, but in order to create agricultural system, ecologically and economically sound, we need to consider the above-mentioned facts.

This video provides you a brief information about cardamom cultivation



System description
Alder-cardamom agro ecosystems are closed ecosystem totally run by renewable resources। Solar energy, rainwater/surface water, human labors are the major inputs of this system.The outputs of this system comprises the cardamom capsule, fibre from stalk (pseudo-stem), firewood and fodder. There is no useless part of cardamom. The alder forest strand is noticeable accumulation of natural wealth having both ecological and economical value which is initially not accounted. The growing forest density provides the suitable habitat for wildlife. The nitrogen fixation capacity of alder enriches the soil. The foliose of alder and cardamom add more humus on soil supporting detritus cycles. The ground surface is humus rich with a layer of litter and decomposing material. Cardamom required to 2 to 3 times weeding. The harvesting period is September to October based on altitudinal range. People harvest the cardamom, dry it and sell it on the market. The harvesting tools are traditional and simple. The drying kiln is prepared by locally available stone, mud and bamboo stripe. Fodder plants, bamboo, broom grass etc are planted on periphery of farm which intensifies the system. The farm system is more energy efficient if the capsules are dried in sun heat. It is efficient even if the fuel wood is taken from the same system. The quantum energy input and output, energy efficiency is higher than other forest -cardamom system. The N¬2 fixing Alder increased the quantum and energy flux which optimize the production potential of system. (Sharma et al 2002). The synergetic effect of mixed crop optimizes the efficiency of energy and nutrient cycling which maximise the resilience and subsistence power of system. For system diagram click

उतीस तथा अलैची कस्तो वनस्पतिहरु हूँन ?

Alder(Uttis): Alder (Alnus nepalensis D.Don) is a multipurpose fast growing perennial tree found in the subtropical highlands of the Himalaya. It belongs to the family Betulacea. It is called Utis in Nepalese and Nepalese Alder in English. It is a deciduous tree with silver-gray bark, which reaches up to 30 m in height and 60 cm in diameter. It occurs throughout the Himalaya at 500-3000 m of elevation from Pakistan through Nepal and Bhutan to Yunnan in southwest China. The leaves are shallowly toothed, 7-16 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are catkins, unusually for an alder produced in the autumn, with the seeds maturing the following year (Barakoti 2006). The tree grows quickly and is sometime planted as erosion controller on hillsides and for land recovery in shifting cultivation. It is the pioneer tree species of succession for that agroclimate so it is often known as “tree of land slides”. It fixes nitrogen with the symbiotic action of filamentous bacteria Frankia(Ya,2004). It tolerates a wide variety of soil types and grows well in very wet areas.

Large cardamom: Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb) is a promising crop of eastern Himalayan region. Presence of wild relatives support the view of its origin in Sikkim (Subba 1984, Rao et al. 1993, Singh and Singh 1996).Large cardamom belong to family Zingiberaceae under the order Zingiberales (formerly known as Scitamineae) It is an aromatic spice mostly use in India and Middle East. Typically, cultivation is in woodland areas with overhead shade and access to regular irrigation from mountain streams with in an altitudinal range of 700-2000 meter above sea levels. Nepal, India and Bhutan are the only cardamom producing countries. Nepal contributes more than 50% of its production (George et al 2007). Large cardamom is a perennial cash crop grown beneath the forest cover on marginal lands. It is suitable crop for moist, shadow and steep land where other crops are virtually impossible. It is a cash crop of high economic return from marginal land. It gives good yield from shady, moist places i.e. stream banks so the local people often call it as “gold of stream”.