Symposium on “Agricultural Policies and Practices in Nepal: Pathways for Transformation” Concludes
Date: 6-7 January 2023
Policy Research Institute (PRI) and the Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA) co-organised the Symposium on 6 and 7 January 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Agricultural and Forestry University, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (TU), Nepal Agricultural Co-operative Central Federation Limited, and the Society of Agricultural Scientists, Nepal (SAS-N). The symposium comprised eight different sessions. Five of them – and an opening event – were organized on Day 1 (January 6) and the remaining three sessions were conducted on the second day (Jan 7).
The symposium was initiated by the Co-chair of the Organizing Committee, Dr Buddhi Raj Gyawali. The Executive Chairperson of PRI, Dr Bishnu Raj Upreti and NAPA President Dr Pradeep Wagle jointly welcomed the participants and formally announced the start of the symposium. NAPA General Secretary Dr. Nitya Nanda Khanal delivered a speech highlighting the annual activities of the NAPA on the occasion of NAPA Day. NAPA’s Immediate Past President Dr. Megha Nath Parajuli and Advisor Prof. Gopi Upreti launched Krishika Susheliharu, a collection of 29 poems addressing various themes and issues of agriculture.
Dr. Hemant Ojha delivered a keynote speech on ‘Improving Agricultural Natural Resource Management Policies in Nepal: Insights from Deliberative Politics and Critical Action Research.’ Dr. Govinda Prasad Sharma, the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and Prof. Dr. Punya P. Regmi, the Vice-Chancellor of Agriculture and Forestry University Nepal, also presented their remarks at the opening session.
After the closing of the opening session, thematic sessions started. The first session – on ‘Environment, Climate Change and Organic Agriculture (ECCOA)’ – was moderated by Dr Sushil Thapa. It included presentations on five themes. After the presentation, the floor was opened for 15 minutes for a general discussion.
The second session, which also included five themes, was moderated by Dr Kalpana Khanal. It was on ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Circular Economy (SACE).” Likewise, Dr. Ramjee Prasad Ghimire moderated the third session – on ‘Plant Genetics/Breeding and Livestock Sector Development (PGB-LSD)’ – that included four thematic presentations.
The fourth session – on ‘Agriculture Business, Cooperatives and Media (ABCM)’ – was moderated by Dr Buddhi Raj Gyawali. The fifth – on ‘Food and Nutrition Security (FNS)’ – was moderated by Dr Krishna Prasad Timilsina. Both sessions included five presentations each. The sixth session was on ‘Policy Relevance to Research, Education and Extension’ and comprised seven presentations. It was co-moderated by Dr Arjun Kumar Shrestha and Dr Mahesh Jaishi. The seventh session on ‘Innovation, Technology and Infrastructure Development Policy,’ moderated by Dr Khusi Ram Tiwari included three presentations. The last session – on ‘Governance: Service Delivery and Evaluation (SDE)’ – had four presentations. It was moderated by Mr. Gopal Acharya.
Following the presentation and floor discussion, the symposium came to an end with the closing remarks by Dr Hari Sharma Neupane, the Head of the Research Department of Policy Research Institute.