IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2017) 8-2

Research article
erd

Farmers' Perception on Existing Problems of Soil Fertility
Management in Mid-Hills of Nepal
MASKEY SARVESH
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: 45516008@nodai.ac.jp

MACHITO MIHARA*
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan
Email: m-mihara@nodai.ac.jp
Received 15 December 2016

Accepted 29 October 2017(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Maintaining soil fertility is essential for prosperity and sustainability of any
agricultural system. Nepal is facing major issues in maintaining soil fertility in agriculture
sector mainly in mid-hills. Mid-hills, which accounts for more than 37% of total agriculture
land has upland terrace farming system, which is intensively cultivated, with high labor input
and high degree of subsistence. With the rise in population and increase in food demand soil
fertility management is essential. The farmers are engaged in traditional farming practices
which has evolved into complex system where livestock, husbandry, crop production,
forestry are practiced together. The undulating topography, climatic condition, unavailabilityof fertilizer is some of the key factors causing land degradation and low productivity.
Accordingly, the objective of this study is to identify farmers’ perception on existing
problems of soil fertility in mid-hills of Nepal. This study was conducted on the basis ofquestionnaire surveys and field visits. Questionnaire surveys were conducted amonghouseholds in eastern mid-hill region of Dhankuta District, Nepal. The results showed that
farmers possessed indigenous knowledge for identifying and characterizing fertility of soils.
Farmyard manure was used widely in maintaining soil fertility. Generally, farmers responded
that soil erosion and low fertility was major problems faced in agriculture. Lack of resources
and proper soil and management strategies was the main cause of the problem resulting insoil degradation and thus nutrient loss and decrease in productivity. To overcome suchproblems scientific approach on understanding the physical and chemical characteristics ofsoil should be applied to propose suitable sustainable conservation practices.
Keywords Nepal, mid-hills, soil fertility management, soil erosion, land degradation

INTRODUCTION
Soil fertility is the ability of soil to receive, store and transmit energy to support plant growth. It is
important component for overall development of plants and crop productivity. For an agrarian
economy maintaining soil fertility is very important to sustain agriculture.
Nepal is a small agrarian country, which lies in South Asia and is divided into 3 major
physiographic regions, mountains, mid-hills and the lowlands. The mid-hills region of Nepal consistsof 37% of total land area with rugged mountain topography and the altitude can vary considerablywith a short horizontal distance. Thus, the mid-hills include deep river valleys well below 1000 m,
and the nearby ridges can rise to more than 3000 m. Accordingly, climate and vegetation shows great
vegetation over a very short distance, and give rise to great ecological diversity and complexity. Ingeneral, farming is rain-fed which is traditionally practiced in innumerable terraces. The terraced
farms are not properly maintained and are extensively cultivated. Farming in mid hills is a complex
system characterized by crop production, livestock, and forestry; where forests provides bedding
material and fodder for livestock, which in turn provides with draft-power and manure. Depletion ofsoil nutrients, water shortage and soil erosion are some the main cause for land degradation. Due tothe topography and economic conditions of the farmers access to chemical fertilizers and otherⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2017) 8-2

technologies are very limited. Soil fertility is largely maintained through the application of compostand manure but in recent years a decline in soil fertility has been reported (Shrestha et. al., 2000).
Even though over the years, research in enhancement of soil fertility and conservation has been done
(Keatinge et al., 1999; Acharya et. al., 2000) and in addition significant amount of relevant
indigenous knowledge has been recorded (Thapa et. al., 1997), there has been decrease in soil fertility
and is a major concern for the farmers (Turton et. al., 1995). There has also been limitation of farmers
in adoption of new techniques by farmers (Shrestha et. al., 2000).
Therefore, the objective of this study is to discuss the understanding of farmers’ perception on
soil fertility, soil management and conservation strategies in the research site.
METHODOLOGY
Site Description
This study was conducted from September to November 2016 in 5 different VDC (VillageDevelopment Committees) of Dhankuta district. The five VDC were Dandabazar, Budhimorang,
Pakhribas, Hattikarkha and Batah. These VDC were chose on the basis of agricultural land area,
population engaged in agriculture and agricultural productivity importance The topography ofDhankuta district is hilly with minimum elevation at 120 m to highest at 2702 m. Dhankuta district
is a major agricultural region with more than 83.45% of people engaged in agriculture whereas thenational average is 65.6%. The agricultural land has been categorized into khetland (irrigatedlowlands) and bariland (upland) and the district’s major crops are maize, paddy, wheat, potato, millet,legumes, ginger, tea, cardamom, sugarcane, vegetables, orange etc. depending on the type of land.
Livestock forms an important part of agriculture with different animals like cows, buffalo, pigs, goat,sheep, chicken etc. been reared. Livestock is an important income source and makes significant
contribution to GNP in agricultural sector. The soil of the district is defined as the alluvial, residualand clay mixed sandy soil according to the elevation as well as the topographic physiology.

Fig. 1 District map of study area

Fig. 2 Topography map of study area

Table 1 Topography distribution of study area
Elevation (m)0-500

500-1,000

1,000-1,500

1,500-2,000

2,000-2,500

2,500-2,693

Area (ha)

11823

30998

29002

13915

13.3178

Area (%)

13.31

34.91

32.66

15.67

3.36

0.09

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2017) 8-2

Household Interviews
Interviews were conducted in five VDC of Dhankuta district. Total of 35 farmer representatives of
5 villages were selected for the interview. To minimize the errors due to possible lack of knowledge
in managing the fields, only those farmers who owned the field were interviewed excluding farmers
working in rented fields. Questionnaire was designed to understand farmers` perception on fertilityof soil, soil fertility management and problems faced in agriculture and conservation practices.
In this study descriptive statistics, graphic analysis and simple tabulation were used tosummarize the data observed.
Table 2 Questions in the questionnaire sheet
Category
Basic information ofhousehold
Farmers’ perception of soil
fertility
Crop cultivatedRelated questions

DetailsName, Age, Gender, Numbers of family membersand Address-General information-Degree of soil fertility

Physical characteristics (color, hardness etc.)-Types of crop

Rice, wheat, maize, tubers, vegetables

Water resources-Source of irrigation water

Soil fertility practice-Kinds of practiceRainwater, river, springs, groundwater
Fertilizer, farmyard manure, compost, greenmanure etc.
Decrease in land productivity, nutrient loss,
sediment yield

Soil degradation
Soil erosion management-Soil erosion effect-Severity-Erosion management practices
and conservation measures

Terracing, buffer strip, mulching etc.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Problem of Soil Erosion and Soil Erosion Management Practices
According to Turton et. al., (1997) soil erosion is one of the major causes that threaten soilsustainability in Nepal. Also, soil loss through surface erosion from hilly agricultural land varies
from less than two tons per hectare per year to a high soil loss of 105 tons per hectare (Acharya et.
al., 2007). Due to mountainous physiography, poorly managed sloppy terraces, and degradedrangelands, erosion on these lands are highest. Interviews with the farmer shows different problems
faced in agriculture in the research site (Fig. 3). 45% and 25% of respondent answered that soilerosion and low fertility respectively were the major problem faced. Other problems such as,landslide, disease and pest were also observed. Annual loss of soil from soil erosion in Nepal isestimated to range between 182 to 708 ton/year (MOEST, 2006). The forest area has been converted
into degraded lands and the vegetation cover is extremely low in some areas. Also, landslides arecommon phenomena in the geologically fragile hills thereby increasing the area of degraded lands.
50

Respondent %403020100Low fertility

Soil erosion

Landslide

Disease and pestFig. 3 Different kinds of problems facedFigure. 4 show farmers perception on the severity of soil erosion in the research site. The results
show that severity of erosion is not alarming. But, the study of Turton et. al., (1997) suggested thatalthough farmers responded unchanged or increased soil fertility, soil analysis showed critical levelⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2017) 8-2of soil fertility. Therefore, there is need to know the amount of erosion and the factors contributing
to it so that required conservation strategies could be applied. Most of the respondent answered thatsoil erosion led to decrease in productivity followed by soil degradation, nutrient loss and sedimentyield (Figure. 5)
4070

Respondent %Respondent %6030201050
4030201000

Very low

Low

NormalHigh

Low productivity Soil degradation

Fig. 4 Severity of soil erosion

Nutrient loss

Sediment yeild

Fig. 5 Effects of soil erosion

High soil erosion and low fertility can be result of soil conservation and soil fertility
management practices. Farmers did have the concept and understanding of soil erosion and practiced
various soil erosion management practices (Fig. 6). Due to topography, 69% of the farmers repliedthat they were practicing terrace farming where steep slopes were converted into terraces. Theseslopes were not properly made and managed which further increases the possibility of soil erosion.
Mulch
6%

Gabion5%

Not at all
12%

Buffer strip
20%

Terracing
69%

0-25%
88%

Fig. 6 Soil erosion conservation practices

Fig. 7 Land area under conservation

Farmers also practiced the construction of buffer strips to minimize the soil erosion and loss ofnutrients. Mulching using crop residues were also observed. Most of the farmers understood theimportance of conservation of their fields, but only small part of their fields was under conservation.
88% of farmers replied that they have some kinds of conservation strategies applied in 25% of theirland area, whereas 12% replied that they did not had any conservation methods applied (Fig. 7).
The reason for low conservation practices can be related to weak economic conditions, lack ofknowledge and training in conservation strategies among the farmers. When asked, only 23% of thefarmers had any or some kind of training participation in conservation strategies.
Dependence on Rainwater
Water is an essential factor in maintaining soil fertility and increasing the productivity. Nepal is richin water resources with series of rivers and streams flowing down from the mountains, but due tolack of infrastructures farmers have to depend on rainwater for agriculture. 60% of farmers repliedthat they were dependent on rainwater for irrigation (Fig. 8). Dhankuta district receives an avg.
rainfall of 2100 mm with rains at peak between the month of June and July (Fig. 9). Apart from therainy season there is scarcity of water. Erratic pattern of rainfall is also a concern for the farmers.
Water conservation strategies should be adopted for supply of water during the dry seasons.
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7030060250
Rainfall (mm)Respondent %IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2017) 8-2

50
40
30
20200
150
100
50

1000RiverPond

Tapwater GroundwaterJanuFe ary
bruaryMarchA
prilMayJuneJulA yuSe g u
pt stembO erc
N tobeovem r
Dec beremberRainwater

Fig. 8 Different sources of irrigation water

Fig. 9 Average annual rainfall(1989-2016, DHM)

Soil Fertility Management Practices
Farmers indicated using conjunction of farmyard manure (FYM) and chemical fertilizer as a major
supplement for managing soil fertility. Other practices, such as green manure, legumes were alsoused (Fig. 10). Farmers for making farmyard manure used indigenous method. Table 3 shows theamount of FYM applied, application frequency and preparation period of FYM. Farmers used leaves,shrubs, and other organic material together with crop residues and bedding material to make farmyard
manure. Manure from cows, buffaloes, pigs, goat, poultry were widely used. Due to deforestationand lack of fodder for the livestock, the quality and the quantity of farmyard manure have decreased.
Also, the amount of farmyard manure applied was directly related to the number of livestock owned.
The improper handling and making of farmyard manure has resulted in loss of nutrients. Shrestha et.
al., (2009) suggested that soil fertility is largely maintained through the application of compost andmanure but in recent years a decline in soil fertility has been reported. Also, improper handling ofmanure can lead to environmental and health problems through surface runoff and leaching ofnutrients and pathogenic microorganism (Ishikawa et. al., 2012).
The most common form of chemical fertilizers used were urea and DAP (Di-Ammoniumphosphate). Although farmers considered chemical fertilizers easy to transport, store and use, costand availability was a major concern. Farmers were unaware of appropriate timing and amount of
fertilizers applied.
FYM
3%Green manure
13%

Legumes
16%

FYM+ chemicalfertilizer
68%

Fig. 10 Different soil fertilizer application
Table 3 Respondent % for application amount, frequency and preparation period of FYM
FYM (ton/ha)
Less than 1 ton/ha 55%
1-2 ton/ha
18%
2-3 ton/ha20%
Not available
7%

Application of FYM
1 time/year
2 times/year
3 times/year
4 times/yearⒸ ISERD35(times/year)

Preparation period

20%
60%
17%
13%

3 months
6 months
9 months
12 months

10%
61%
19%
10%

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CONCLUSIONS
Soil erosion was a major problem faced by farmers, which led to depletion of nutrients, thus decreasein productivity. Farmers used various kinds of soil management practices with farmyard manure themost dominant kind. Improper handling in preparation, storing and application resulted in low
productivity. Farmers were also using chemical fertilizers, but it was restricted to availability andeconomic condition of farmers. Landslides, sediment yields diseases and pests were other problems,
which existed. Soil conservation strategies were performed, but in very small portion of the field.
Lack of irrigation facilities and dependence in rainwater was major concern. All this conditions had
effect on the productivity. To better understand and overcome such problems scientific approachshould be applied and suitable sustainable conservation practices should be proposed.
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