The People's Movement and Experiment In Nepal

Nepal is a landlocked agricultural country situated between India and China, divided into three ecological regions — the plain terai, hills and mountain. These three regions cover 17, 68 and 15 % of the total area respectively. Terai is the granary of Nepal whereas the mountain region consists of high mountains including the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest. Nepal has a total area of 14.1 million hectares inhabitated by 14.26 million people. The population growth rate is 2.6 % per annum (1971-1981). Agriculture is the main source of income and employment: over 94 % of the population are solely dependent on agricultural activities. However, the size of land holding is quite skewed with the majority of farmers (68.5 % households) having less than one hectare whereas 9.8 % households own 10 hectares or more. Rice crop occupies a major portion of the cultivated area followed by wheat, maize and potato. Agriculture production depends largely on the vagaries of nature, because only 8 % of the cultivated land has permanent irrigation. Nepal is basically a rural country. Even the capital of the country, Kathmand