Eastern Hills Of Nepal Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF POSTHARVEST HANDLING SYSTEMS OF VEGETABLES IN THE EASTERN HILLS OF NEPAL

A study was carried out in the Eastern hills of Nepal during the year 2001/2002 on postharvest handling of four major vegetables namely cauliflower, cabbage, radish and tomato. Information was collected on harvesting time and methods, timing and availability of transport, grading, pre-cooling, packaging and storage. The study found that the postharvest losses of cauliflower, cabbage, radish and tomatoes from the farmer's field to the collection centers were 6%, 9%, 6% and 3% respectively. The losses were mainly due to spoilage, bruising and trimmings in cauliflower and cabbage, breaking in radish and rupturing and spoilage in tomatoes. The losses incurred in above four vegetables at retailer's level were 41%, 34%, 4.5% and 7% respectively for the four vegetables. Physically damaged, sorted vegetables and trimmed parts were sold at a lower price to feed livestock. The main factors responsible for postharvest losses were inappropriate packaging, transportation and grading systems. In view of the above problem an attempt was made to increase awareness of postharvest handling systems by training farmers and vegetable traders and the response was encouraging. There is a great need for more research and training to overcome postharvest losses of vegetables in developing countries by adopting low cost technologies, which will be appropriate and affordable to the farmers and traders.

Bearing the Burden: Portage Labor as an Adaptive Response to Predictable Food Deficits in Eastern Nepal

Wage work such as portage labor is one of several adaptive strategies by which rural households in Nepal supplement their subsistence agriculture. This study, conducted in the hills of eastern Nepal in 1997, surveyed the landholdings and household subsistence base of 50 commercial porters hired to transport loads from Jiri to various destinations in Solu Khumbu. A major goal was to test the hypothesis that porter households tend to have smaller landholdings than the average household in this region. An unexpected result was that porter households in this study owned nearly as much arable land (1.07 ha) as the mean of 1.15 ha for all hill families in eastern Nepal. Household grain sufficiency correlated significantly (P < 0.01) with farm size (r = 0.53). The majority of the porters lived in villages located at either the origin or the endpoint of their portage work. The study also examined several variables that might explain why portage labor is a full-time occupation for some Nepalis, but a part-time “casual” occupation for others. The most significant difference between households of full-time and part-time porters was the availability of workers at home for managing the household’s land and livestock resources. Households of full-time porters were better able to spare a family member for full-time wage labor because they had significantly more adult workers of either gender (P < 0.05) than households of part-time porters. Full-time and part-time porter households did not differ significantly with regard to family size, land ownership, or number of food-deficit months.

Mineral and Amino Acid Contents of Kinema, a Fermented Soybean Food Prepared in Nepal.

Five sun-dried Kinema samples were collected from the eastern hills of Nepal and their proximate composition, mineral contents and amino acid compositions were analyzed. The Kinema contained 6.0±0.3% (mean±s.d., dry matter base) ash, and potassium comprised about 30% of the ash prepared from the Kinema sample. The average value of the trichloroacetic acid-soluble nitrogen (TCA-N) content relative to the total nitrogen content of the Kinema samples was 35.3% (s.d.=6.6). The percent liberation of amino acids (ratio of the sum of the free amino acid contents to the sum of the total amino acid contents) of the Kinema samples ranged from 6.0% to 16.5% with an average value of 11.4% (s.d.=4.3). When these values were compared with those of the Thua-nao sample obtained in Thailand and the Natto sample prepared in Japan, a higher TCA-N relative to total nitrogen was observed in the Natto sample. The pattern similarities of free amino acid compositions between the samples were calculated and showed that the samples were classified into 2 groups, the soybean sample and the group of the fermented soybean samples. The positions of the Kinema samples were closer to the position of the Natto sample rather than the Thua-nao sample.

Milk production of local and Murrah crossbred buffaloes and local and jersey crossbred cows on farms in the hills of Eastern Nepal

Milk production of local and Murrah crossbred buffaloes and local and jersey crossbred cows on farms in the hills of Eastern Nepal

Reproduction of pigs in the hills of eastern Nepal

A survey of 101 farmers with sows was conducted in the Koshi Hills of Nepal. Estimates of those reproductive traits which did not differ significantly between local and Pakhribas crossbred sows, are farrowing interval 7.4 months, litter size at birth 8.3, age of piglets at weaning 2.2 months and total number of farrowings 13.2. Local pigs reach sexual maturity sooner than Pakhribas crossbreds; age at first farrowing for the two genotypes is 10.7 and 12.0 months (P < 0.05), and age at first mating of boars is 6.5 and 7.4 months (P < 0.05). Sows farrow throughout the year and there is no clearly defined best season for farrowing. Pre-weaning mortality rates are estimated to be 22% for local piglets and 15% for Pakhribas crossbreds. Almost all farmers practise controlled mating in which either the sow is taken to the boar or the boar is brought to the sow. The proportion of farmers (with sows) who own a boar is only about 5 per cent.

Farming Systems Research in Remote Areas in Nepal: The Need for a New Approach to On-farm Research and Extension

SUMMARYOn-farm research in remote areas demands methods that keep down costs and reduce the need for subsequent research and extension inputs and yet that still produce useful and sustainable recommendations. An important part of the process is to identify existing resource user groups and use them, rather than individual farmers, as a starting point for on-farm research. This approach is discussed in the context of farming systems research in the eastern hills of Nepal.

A comparison of jersey crossbred and local oxen as draught animals in the eastern hills of Nepal

A comparison of jersey crossbred and local oxen as draught animals in the eastern hills of Nepal

Factors influencing the work done by draught oxen: a study in the eastern hills of Nepal

ABSTRACTThe work done, distance travelled and body temperature of five teams of oxen ploughing land for winter crops was measured continuously over a 5-h working day. On terraces in East Nepal the cattle worked at slow speeds (about 0·3 m/s). Daily work output was variable and depended on ground and soil conditions and on the man working the team. Estimated daily energy expenditure on working days in October and November was 1·25 to 1·46 × maintenance. Differences between teams were small. No noticeable change in performance occurred over the 5-h work, with the exception of one team which usually worked erratically over the last 2 h. Only one animal showed signs of heat stress during work, when its body temperature increased by 1·8 to 2°C, otherwise body temperature varied little (&lt; 1°C) during work.

Community managed irrigation in Eastern Nepal

This paper examines several farmer managed irrigation schemes in the eastern hills of Nepal. The development and management structure of these is considered in order to identify characteristics of successful schemes which could be used in planning future projects.

The prevalence of immediate positive skin tests in Nepalese children.

Two hundred and ninety-three normal schoolchildren between 5 and 15 years old living in the hills of Eastern Nepal were tested by the skin prick method for sensitivity to six allergens: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Aspergillus fumigatus. Cladosporium herbarum, Penicillium notatum, mixed pollens and mixed threshings. These children were also questioned and examined for symptoms and signs relating to allergic disease. Of the children, 20% were skin-prick positive to at least one of the allergens, and 20% had symptoms of allergic disease, but there was no relationship between the symptoms and the prick test results. No relationship was found between the prick test results and any of the following: the length of time a child was breast-fed; the age of the child and his month of birth. Of the boys, 19% admitted to smoking cigarettes, as did 11% of the girls.

Profitability Analysis of Non-Timber Forest Products Marketing in Eastern Hills of Nepal: Looking for an Alternative Marketing Approach to Benefit the Poor

Key words: Nepal; NTFP trading; profitability; poor people; collectors; tradersDOI: 10.3126/init.v1i0.2675The Initiation Vol.1 2007 p.16-28