Forage Development in the Nepal Mid-Hills: New Perspectives

Nepali hill farming communities are typically poor and remote, and are currently severely affected by conflict. The challenge is to define simple approaches which can generate results within this context. Livestock are central to livelihoods and to the sustainability of farming, with rain-fed agriculture dependent on inputs of manure-based compost. Stall feeding has increased dramatically with the adoption of community forestry and general preclusion of grazing. A broad landscape approach to forage development is increasingly being adopted, with concurrent on-farm interventions, such as intercropping and back-yard forage, and off-farm interventions, such as landslide stabilisation with forages, development of forest understory, and reinforcement of degraded grazing areas with forage. Considerable work has been undertaken in the mid-hills (below 1800m ASL) with very limited higher altitude programs to 4,000m ASL. Until the late 1990s forage development was restricted to use of a very narrow array of genetic material. To accommodate the agro-ecological diversity, broad mixtures are now commonly used, encompassing species with known potential locally, and some peripheral commercial and pre-release material for testing to refine recommendations. Productive erect cut-and-carry grasses including Mott Napier (Pennisetum purpureum cv Mott) are popular. A suite of legumes including Stylosanthes.guianensis, Chamaecrista rotundifolia cv Wynn, Aeschynomene americana cv Glenn, Aeschynomene villosa, Neonotonia wightii, forage arachis (Arachis pintoi), and Leucaena leucocephala have been successful in various niches