KATHMANDU: The government of Nepal has declared Nepal as self-reliant on meat and egg production on Thursday.
Addressing a programme organized to declare self-reliance in livestock products on Thursday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli argued that grants made available in the agriculture sectors should be utilized for sustainable development of the sector.
He shared that the government was providing the grants in nominal interest rates in modernization and equipment and irrigation in the sectors. As per the United Nations, Nepal has become self-reliant in some livestock products.
Nepal is producing 1.6 billion eggs, and 255,000 metric tonnes of meat and fish annually. However, Nepal needs to increase production by 12 liters per person annually to be self-reliant in milk products.
The contribution of agriculture sector to the GDP is 27 percent and to livestock and livestock production is 14 percent. Although about 68 percent of the people are involved in agriculture, the government is in the process of attracting foreign investment in agriculture as the dependence on the agricultural sector has not decreased.
Prime Minister Oli complained that though the country was increasing grants in the agro sectors, the production was not increasing as per the expectation.
He also directed the line ministries to bring effective programmes to attract the youths in productive sectors.
Similarly, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Padma Aryal stressed on making Prime Minister Modernization Project effective. She also opined to not let occur food shortage.
