Search

Among all other leading challenges of this century, climate change affects people's livelihoods, particularly those residing in rural areas. This study is the first attempt to assess the Long-run (LR) and Short-run (SR) impacts of climatic factors, namely CO2 emissions, temperature, and precipitation on maize production in Nepal from 1983 to 2016, with the incorporation of cultivated area, fertilizers use, and credit supply as important input factors of maize production. To analyze the time-series dataset, we applied the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), Vector error correction model (VECM), Impulse response function (IRF), and Variance decomposition (VD) methodologies. The results reveal that CO2 emissions and temperature decreased maize production in the short- and long-run while precipitation improved maize production in both cases. Also, cultivated area and fertilizers use significantly contributed to maize production in both periods. The results of the VECM causality indicate that rainfall and cultivated area have two-way causal associations with maize production. The CO2 emissions and credit represent unidirectional causality with maize production in the short-run. Besides, all variables share a significant long-run connection. Finally, the IRF and VD outcomes suggested that the effects of climatic and non-climatic factors are consistent on maize production. The policies recommend that better environmental quality is crucial for sustainable maize production in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture plays an integral part in facilitating socioeconomic development in Nepal. However, it is also associated with environmental concerns which need to be controlled for the sake of ensuring environmental and agricultural sustainability in tandem. Against this backdrop, this current study aims to check whether shocks to the levels of agricultural productivity, land utilization for crop production, and fertilizer consumption influence the carbon dioxide emission figures of Nepal over the 1965-2018 period. The long-run associations between these variables are confirmed from the cointegration analysis. Besides, the outcomes from the asymmetric non-linear autoregressive distributed lag regression analysis show that crop productivity does not influence the emission levels in Nepal. However, a decline in the land area used for crop production purposes is evidenced to trigger higher emissions of carbon dioxide both in the short- and long run. On the other hand, higher fertilizer consumption is found to boost the short- and long-run carbon dioxide emission levels in Nepal. Accordingly, considering the objective of reducing agriculture-based emissions, this study recommends the Nepalese government to adopt policies that can enhance the productivity of low energy-intensive crop production, stimulate green agriculture and non-agriculture activities, and minimize the use of chemical fertilizers in arable lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the significant impact of climate change on major staple food crops in Nepal, this study aims to estimate the influence of climatic factors (i.e., CO 2 emissions, average temperature, and average precipitation) and technological factors (i.e., fertiliser consumption and improved seeds) on rice production in Nepal from 1990 to 2016 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. While controlling for cultivated rice areas, agricultural credit variables are likely other essential rice production factors. This study reveals a long-run cointegration connection among the variables. The ARDL results indicate that CO 2 emissions decreased rice production by 0.13%, while average temperature and average precipitation improved rice production by 0.72% and 0.01%, respectively, in the long run. Further results show that cultivated rice area, fertiliser consumption, and agricultural credit enhanced rice production by 2.26%, 0.05%, and 0.02%, respectively, in the long run. Unidirectional causality among cultivated areas, fertilisers, seeds, temperature, CO 2 emissions, and rice production was confirmed. Additionally, impulse response and variance decomposition verified the substantial impacts of climate and technological factors on rice production and variations. This study empirically confirmed that the use of agricultural technology (i.e. fertiliser consumption) significantly enhanced rice production; therefore, this study suggests that the Nepalese government should expand subsidised fertilisers so as to increase rice production and improve the income of farmers. In addition, agricultural credit plays a vital role in enhancing rice production in Nepal; to cope with climate change, the study also suggests that there is a need to launch carbon/weather financing schemes through financial intuitions in the country. [Display omitted] • The impacts of climate change is examined on rice production. • The ARDL approach is used to explore long-way relationship between the variables. • Temperature and precipitation positively affected rice production in the long-run. • CO2 emissions adversely influenced rice production in the long-run. • Area, fertilizer use, and credit positively improved rice production in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]