The country can be broadly divided into three parallel geographic regions based on topography. The population of the country was more than 21.4 million in 1995. Rice is the most important food crop of Nepal. The main diet of the Nepalese is also rice. Almost all people in the terai and river basins depend on this crop.
Rice farming dominates the agricultural sector of Nepal, which itself dominates the economy.
It is, therefore, the single most important industry in the country, contributing approximately one-fourth of the GDP and occupying approximately 1.4 million ha. Virtually all of the increase in total rice production came from increases in the area cropped. Recently, there has been a substantial shift to the use of higher-yielding varieties. Adoption of modern varieties has induced farmers to apply commercial fertilizers to rice, a practice not followed when local varieties are grown. Rice environment Rice is grown under a wide range of ecological conditions.