Jawalakhel, Lalitpur
Training Programme on
Advanced Course on Management of Development
(Date: 2071/09/16-2071/10/23)
Title of the Case: Constraints of Organic Tea Farming expansion in Gotikhel VDC, Lalitpur: A Case Study
Submitted to: Nepal Administrative Staff College
Submitted by: Sudhir Shrestha
S.N.:
Constraints of Organic Tea Farming expansion in Gotikhel VDC, Lalitpur: A Case Study
Sudhir Shrestha
Introduction
The history of tea plantation in Nepal began in 1963 with the personal initiation of Col. Ganja Raj Thapa, the son-in-law of Prime Minister Janga Bahadur Rana. The first tea factory was built in Ilam in 1878. After almost a century of a privately run activity, the Nepalese government established the Nepal Tea Development Corporation in 1966. In the year 1982 the five eastern district of Nepal viz. Dhankuta, Terathum, Panchthar, Ilam and Jhapa was declared as 'Tea Zone ' (NTCDB, 2015). This declaration brought about an effective change in the tea industry in the country. Nepal government has continued to support this sector through enactment of a number of measures, including establishment of National Tea and Coffee Development Board under Ministry of Agriculture Development in 1993, Coffee and Tea Development Section under Department of Agriculture in 1995 and implementation of National Tea policy 2000. Currently tea is one of the largest agricultural exports for Nepal.
The development of Nepal 's tea sector has widespread socio-economic implications for the country. The tea sector employs more than 100,000 Nepalese people, particularly rural women (ITC, 2007). Moreover, most of the Nepalese tea is grown by poor smallholder farmers (Heiss & Heiss, 2007) and tea cultivation and marketing can be an effective driving force for poverty alleviation (ITC, 2007). The Nepalese tea sector has experienced an average growth of 14% per annum since 2000 and the area under cultivation has reached 15,168 hectares in
References: FAO, 2009. Production- Crops. FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). URL http://faostat.fao.org Heiss, M.I. and R.J. Heiss. 2007. The story of tea: A cultural history and drinking guide. Ten Speed Press, Bekerely, USA. International Trade Centre, 2007. Export potential assessment in Nepal. International Trade Center, Geneva Karki, L., R. Schleenbeker and U. Hamm. 2011. Factors influencing a conversion to organic farming in Nepalese tea farms. J. Agri. Rural Develop. Trop. Subtrop. 112 (2)113-123 Koirala, P., S. Dhakal, and A.S. Tamrakar. 2009. Pesticide application and food safety issue in Nepal. The Journal of Agriculture and Environment, 10: 111-114. NTCDB, 2015. National Tea and Coffee Development Board, Nepal, URL http://www.teacoffee.gov.np Rajbhandari, M., D. Kanel and B. Shrestha. 2011. Orthodox tea value chain development, Raising farmer incomes. SNV. URL http:/www.snvworld.org Thapa, Y.B. (2003). Commodity case study-Tea. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, URL http://www.fao.org