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Rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation necessitates an adequate supply of nitrogen to achieve optimal growth and yield. This study, conducted in Nawalparasi West from February to June 2023, aimed to assess the effects of nitrogen management through a foliar spray of nano urea, compared to need-based nitrogen management using the Leaf Color Chart (LCC) and the Recommended Dose of urea Fertilizer (RDF) application. The experiment followed a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, incorporating four nitrogen management levels (Control, RDF through urea fertilizer (120 kg/ha), 25% of RDF through basal urea (30 kg/ha) + nano urea, and 25% of RDF through basal urea (30 kg/ha) + (LCC) and two rice varieties (Chaite-5 and Hardinath-1). The results indicated that the LCC-based treatment produced the highest grain yield at 5.18 mt/ha, statistically similar to the yield of the nano urea-based treatment (5.04 mt/ha). The enhanced yields were attributed to more effective tillers per m² (260.17 tillers/m² and 253.17 tillers/m², respectively), longer panicle length (28.12 cm and 25.99 cm), more filled grains per panicle (210.03 and 215.73), and lower sterility percentage (24.93% and 26.95%). Despite comparable yields, nano urea application proved to be more cost-effective [97,926.10 Nepalese Rupees (NRs)] with a higher benefit-cost ratio (1.78) and greater ease of application for farmers compared to the LCC. Varietal responses varied, with Hardinath-1 exhibiting the highest yield with LCC-based nitrogen application (5.37 mt/ha), and Chaite-5 demonstrating the highest yield (4.778 mt/ha); with nano urea-based nitrogen application (5.31 mt/ha). Chaite-5 displayed a greater effective number of tillers per m² (241.42 tillers/m²) and filled grains per panicle (224.56). Consequently, it is suggested that nano urea-based nitrogen application, particularly in conjunction with a variety of Chaite-5, holds the potential for improved productivity.

Apple production is a vital sector of agriculture in Nepal, significantly impacting local livelihoods and the regional economy. This study, conducted in Jumla District, Nepal, from January to July 2022, aims to comprehensively assess apple production, including its existing conditions, economic implications, marketing and challenges. The research hypothesizes that while apple production in Jumla District contributes significantly to the local economy, it faces challenges related to pest and disease management, marketing, and adoption of modern practices. Using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), descriptive statistics were computed based on data collected from a sample of 80 respondents selected through simple random sampling. The result revealed that agriculture constituted the primary source of income for 73.75% of the population, with an average landholding size of 0.3428 ha and an apple-growing land area of 0.3164 ha. Income from apple production, along with vegetables and fruits, was a major income source. The average annual sales of apple production were 7.291 t/ha. Labor costs accounted for 45.67% of the total cost of apple production, with an average total production cost of NPR 238,097.2 and average gross returns of NPR 485,500. Apple productivity was 9.71 t/ha, demonstrating its economic viability with net returns of NPR 247,402.80 per ha and benefit cost ratio of 2.039. However, the study found that farm produce only sufficed for 6-9 months, with pest and disease incidence and marketing issues as major challenges. Interventions should address pest and disease management, marketing strategies, and modern practices adoption to enhance sustainable and profitable apple production in Jumla. Efforts to extend farm produce sufficiency should also be explored, highlighting apple production's potential and the need for targeted support to overcome challenges and foster sector development.

This experiment was carried out under the study entitled “Ripening regulation of the banana Cv. Malbhog using different ripening inducers” for controlling the ripening of the banana, for improvement of quality attributes and post-harvest life of banana. The experiment was conducted at laboratory of horticulture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from 14th March to 16th April 2019. These experiments were laid out in completely randomized design in which the first experiment comprised of seven treatments consisting of distilled water spray, ethephon @ 250 ppm, ethephon @ 500 ppm, ethephon @750 ppm, ethephon@1000 ppm, Dhurseli (Colebrookea oppositifolia) leaves and Ripe banana replicated thrice. Different post-harvest parameters were recorded at the interval of two days for the experiment till any one of the treatment attained score 6 in the color chart. In this experiment, the CI-6 stage was reached earlier on the 9th day with the use of ethephon @ 1000 ppm but ethephon @ 500 ppm was found more effective regarding quality parameters with TSS (21˚B), and TSS/TA (34.66). The maximum physiological loss in weight (12.927%) and pulp peel ratio (3.65) was observed with ethephon@1000ppm and the minimum was achieved in banana sprayed with distilled water. The shelf life of banana was seen minimum (13.33 days) in ethephon @ 1000 ppm and maximum (20.33 days) in banana sprayed with distilled water.

The productivity of tomato in Nepal is very low due to lack of high yielding, disease and pests resistant varieties. An experiment was carried out to evaluate horticultural traits of 50 genotypes obtained from World Vegetable Centre (WorldVeg), Taiwan and SAARC region, and local collections during March to August 2020 in open field conditions at National Horticulture Research Centre, Khumaltar, Lalitpur. The objectives were to identify promising open-pollinated tomato cultivars for high yield, appropriate fruit size, and disease resistant. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed significant differences in yield and yield attributing characters including virus infection. The highest yield (39.6 mt ha-1) was produced by HRA43 and it was followed by HRA33 (26.4 mt ha-1). Among the WorldVeg OP lines, AVTO1429 produced the highest yield (16.21 mt ha-1) and it was followed by AVTO1717 (12.95 mt ha-1), AVTO0922 (11.83 mt ha-1) and AVTO1219 (11.7 mt ha-1) respectively. Most of the WorldVeg lines performed better than the check variety ‘Pusa Ruby’. Genotype HRA43, Red Local and Sindhupalchock Local were not affected by virus while Yellow Local showed 3.3% infection. Among the WorldVeg lines, AVTO1712 (20%), AVTO1717 (20%) and AVTO1718 (13%) and AVTO1219 (15%) showed less than 20% virus infection in the open field conditions. Cluster analysis using the unweighted paired group method with arithmetic mean showed that cluster-1 was the largest cluster comprised of 40 genotypes followed by cluster-2 and cluster-4. Genotypes from cluster-4 showed the higher fruit yield (25.1 mt ha-1) and resistant to the virus and the highest number of fruits per plot (1978 in 4.5 m2 area). The yield was low in cluster-1 which could be due to the heavy rainfall during the vegetative and reproductive stages. Genotypes Red Local and Sindhupalchock Local could be used in future tomato breeding program due to their resistant to TYLCV, higher potential yield and highest plant vigour in open field conditions at the mid-hill of Nepal. Considering the overall performance, genotype HRA43, HRA33 and AVTO1429 were promising lines with performance for yield and other horticultural traits.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the important spices in the world. Nepal is the fourth largest producers of ginger in the world, which produced 271.863 MT in 2016. In Nepal, seventy districts are producing ginger and around 400.000 households are involving in the ginger farming which is the chief source of the household income. Moreover, ginger has prioritized by several policies and strategies of the Government of Nepal. This paper examined the production trend and market access of Nepali ginger considering the ginger global market. A diagnostic study of production, value addition, and the marketing system was carried out between the eastern and the western part of Nepal. The secondary information was reviewed and analysed for the study. Likewise, the key informant survey was performed for the primary data and information. For Nepali ginger, India is found constantly top destination. The result of price index suggested that Nepali ginger is losing significant potential earning by not having top most lucrative markets for fresh ginger. Moreover, the trend of the export is ever fluctuating and the result showed that trade of ginger to India in term of export is more stable from the western region as compared to the eastern region. The study found that the major determinants of ginger market access are quality of ginger produced, value addition, level of trade facilitation, and domestic production and the import of India from other countries.

The paper attempts to explore the factors affecting the farm mechanization in Nepal, where agriculture is the primary livelihood of most people and the mechanization is crucial for efficient production and productivity. The government has also introduced a separate policy for agriculture mechanization in 2014. A primary data was collected from 300 households and analysed to assess and quantify the determinants of the farm mechanization. A descriptive analysis was carried out for understanding the data and the results were interpreted. Similarly, the multiple regression was executed to assess the factors affecting total investment in the farm machinery. The five different models were specified and compared for the better results. Moreover, to have deeper insight, the farm machinery was categorized into light machinery, heavy machinery and animal power. The results showed that light machinery is an essential part of Nepali farming system. Likewise, the presence of animal power, income per capita, per capita farm area, adaptation due to change in temperature, Household size, Farm area and income are significant determinants for total investment in farm mechanization.

Market price cointegration is a critical issue in Nepalese vegetable industry. This study intended to analyze the market price cointegration of tomato and its effect on Nepalese farmers, using secondary monthly time series of wholesale price data (since 2000 to 2010) of the Government of Nepal. The results of error correction model (ECM) showed that the series were stationary, and Kathmandu market was well cointegrated with source markets (Chitwan and Morang). Meanwhile, the vector error correction model (VECM) revealed that price adjustment process was much faster in source markets especially in negative price shocks in response to Kathmandu market, which affected the farmers for speedy price adjustment that leads to be hurt and discouraged. The study recommend policies to establish alternative vegetable markets that reduce the price dependency of farmers on Kathmandu market, encourage traders in involving vegetable marketing, and enhance effective market information services.