{"id":20043294,"date":"2020-11-25T12:30:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T07:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=43294"},"modified":"2023-10-09T15:21:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T09:51:40","slug":"climate-change-adds-to-woes-of-lentil-farmers-in-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/climate-change-adds-to-woes-of-lentil-farmers-in-nepal\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change adds to woes of lentil farmers in Nepal\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Hindu festival of Dashain in October, farmers across Nepal head to their fields to harvest their prized rice paddy crop. Those in the flatlands then prepare their land to grow lentils, also known as \u2018poor man\u2019s protein\u2019, because they provide such an important source of nutrition for many in Nepal.
\nWhile waterlogged paddy fields are good for growing lentils, which thrive in cool conditions, the legume also plays an important role in fixing nitrogen in the soil for the next crop cycle. When winter rains arrive, the lentils get just enough water to thrive, especially in the southern Terai region, home to 80% of the 250,000 hectares of land on which lentils are grown in Nepal.
\nBut farmers are abandoning lentil for wheat and vegetables, which fetch a better price in the market. Hari Sharma, a retired civil servant living in Jaynagar in western Nepal\u2019s Bardiya district, noticed the change in his neighbourhood around four years ago. \u201cPeople used to grow lentils after the paddy was harvested,\u201d he remembers. \u201cBut these days, many farmers are shying away from the crop.\u201d<\/span>
\nFrom exporter to importer<\/b>
\nLentils are an important part of the famous \u2018dal-bhat\u2019 (rice-lentils) combination that many Nepalis, especially in the hills swear by.<\/span> Lentils are an important source of protein in the Nepali diet, especially for poor families that don\u2019t earn enough to eat meat or eggs regularly. <\/span>
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Lentils and rice in a clay pot. [Image courtesy Alamy]<\/figcaption><\/figure>They are also important for the economic health of the country, which until recently was one of the world\u2019s top producers of lentils. Nepal was the seventh biggest producer of lentils in the world in 2018, producing almost 250,000 tonnes of lentils according to the Food and Agriculture Organization<\/a> (FAO). And this is despite low yields compared to other countries, attributed to the continued use of poor quality local seeds (saved from the previous year), limited fertiliser use, as well as poor crop management. <\/span>
\n\u201cUntil around 2014, Nepal even exported lentils to other countries, especially Bangladesh,\u201d said Gokul P Paudel, an agricultural economist at the <\/span>International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT).<\/span><\/a> \u201cBut these days, exports have been limited. The Indian government\u2019s focus on pulses and its subsidies to farmers has boosted productivity in India. Bangladesh too has prioritised lentils and expanded both the cropping area and productivity,\u201d said Paudel, who recently co-authored <\/span>a paper<\/span><\/a> looking at reasons for low lentil productivity in Nepal.  <\/span>
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