Kathmandu, Mar. 1: Nepal, long known as a predominantly agricultural country, is turning into agricultural produce importing country because the output produced by the farmers is sufficient only for them, productivity has not increased and agricultural production has not been commercialised.

The Gross Domestic Production (gdp) of agricultural sector which was 40.1 per cent in 1999 has been estimated to decline to 37 per cent in 2002. Almost 72.6 per cent of the development budget of the country has been spent in the agricultural sector.

It has been realised that the agro-based produce of the country should be easily accessible to the domestic and foreign market and the output should be in proportion to the demand.

It has been felt that some development has taken place in the agricultural sector since the 90s.  The gradual development of the sector has been attributed to the economic liberalisation policy pursued by the country, involvement of the private sector, and the interest shown by the foreign donor community.

After the private sector, which feels that a conducive policy for the development of agriculture is necessary, extended cooperation for the development of agriculture and the process of improvement is on.

Likewise, demands are being made for the access to technology and imparting training to the persons working in this field. It has also been felt that the foreign donor agencies should evince interest to work together.

Participants at the interaction programme on “Agriculture Enterprises Centre (aec), moving ahead in partnership” organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (fncci) and aec here today emphasised that the overall development of agricultural sector is not possible only through one institution.

They stressed that the partnership of the government, foreign donor community and private sector was necessary in this task.

The participants also referred to the progress made by the aec in the field of  horticulture, medicinal herbs, vegetable seeds, floriculture, apiculture, livestock, cultivation of tea and coffee and growing of off season vegetables.

Addressing the programme, Minister for Agriculture Chakra Prasad Bastola said that Nepal should choose between agriculture and industries for its development.

Even in the present context of the inability of the country to take all the agricultural produce to the world market, priority had to be accorded to the agricultural sector for poverty alleviation, he added.

Minister bastola said that along with the development of new tourism spots, agricultural production should also be increased.

Stating that agricultural production of international standard could not be produced without utilising high technology, he said that training and skills were required for this purpose.

National Planning Commission (npc) member Hari Shankar Tripathi said that 20-year Agricultural Perspective Plan had been introudced to support programmes such as poverty alleviation. The participation of the private sector is necessary to boost agricultural production, he added.

Fncci president Pradip Kumar Shrestha said that the private sector was moving ahead to increase the agricultural output.

Aec chairman Suraj Vaidya also expressed his views on the occasion.