Kathmandu: In the newly formed government led by Balendra Shah, proportional representation Member of Parliament from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Geeta Chaudhary, has taken charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development as well as Forests and Environment. She assumed office at the ministry located in Singha Durbar on Friday.
The new government has merged the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development with the Ministry of Forests and Environment into a unified structure. This integration is being viewed as an important step toward sustainable development. While there was previously a dominant narrative that “agriculture harms forests,” the new approach acknowledges the interrelationship between agriculture and forests and promotes the concept of integrated management.
During the handover ceremony, ministry secretaries Dr. Deepak Kumar Kharal and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra welcomed Minister Chaudhary and briefed her on the current situation and challenges of the ministry. According to the secretaries, in agriculture-based Nepal, the sector contributes about 25 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while nearly 50 percent of the workforce is engaged in it.
They informed that only about three percent of the total national budget is currently allocated to the agriculture sector, of which around 80 percent is being spent. They highlighted key challenges such as the shortage of chemical fertilizers, milk pricing, agricultural insurance payments, subsidy management, irrigation, agricultural credit, and investment. It was also noted that there are difficulties in supplying sufficient chemical fertilizers not only for staple crops but also for crops such as sugarcane, banana, tea, coffee, and vegetables.
