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Agricultural Training Program

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Organized by

Organized by

Nepal China Friendship Forum
Collaboration with:
Southwest University of Science and Technology
June 28 2018 to July 5 2018

Introduction

Agricultural Training program was a 7-day program conducted by Nepal China Friendship Forum along with Southwest University of Science and Technology, from 28th June, 2018 to 5th of July, 2018. The objective of this program was to transfer various modern and efficient agricultural skills from China to Nepal. The program primarily targeted agricultural workers of Nepal. 25 participants from various agricultural backgrounds relying on income from crop farming, poultry farming, mushroom faming, etc. were participants in this training program.

Nepal has long been an agricultural nation with more than 60% of the total population involved in agriculture. In 2017, around 27% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal was a contribution from the agricultural sector. Therefore, agriculture is one priority sector for Nepal. However, the discrepancy between the total population engaged and the output derived from agriculture to the economy has a huge gap. Taking into consideration this issue, Nepal China Friendship Forum organized an agricultural training in China wherein the trainees learned different aspects of agriculture through scientific research lectures, on-site teachings, sightseeing and some cultural exchange activities.

All these trainings were a combination of in-house as well as out-house trainings. It primarily included teaching about low cost resource utilization of slaughter waste in smart pastures and large-scale farming, mode of modern industrialized poultry production, rural biomass waste biogas utilization project, transformation of traditional water, modern feed production process, agriculture plus internet , e-commerce on agriculture , new rural construction to sightsee agriculture and Nepalese agricultural development.

Alongside, the training on agriculture, there was one session that was totally focused on the tea culture of China. This was a part of cultural exchange to know in detail the evolution, history and importance of tea culture in China.

Effectiveness of the Program

This program conducted by 'Nepal China Friendship Forum' had 25 attendees as trainees, who visited China from 28th June to 5th of July, 2018. After concluding the program and returning back to Nepal, we took a quick survey with the trainees so as to access the effectiveness of the program. The questions that we focused on to get feedback from the trainees were as follows:
  • What were the major takeaways from the training program?
  • Which session was the most effective and in what way?
  • On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the least effective and 5 being the most effective), how effective did you think the program was in terms of learning, practicality, issue addressing, viable for implementation, and productive?
  • What suggestions would you like to give and what was the room for improvement while conducting such programs in the future?

The feedbacks were collected from 10 trainees and a summary of their responses is as follows for each question above:

What were the major takeaways from the training program?

The training was a huge value addition for the trainees. They were all from an agricultural background wherein they followed traditional farming techniques. Therefore, this training which focused on efficiency and effectiveness through modern processing techniques, the use of various agricultural equipment, eco-friendly organic farming, etc., helped them broaden their knowledge regarding modern agriculture.

One of our trainees, Mr. Badri Bahadur Shrestha overwhelmingly mentioned, “I had never known the extent to how traditionally we were doing crop-faming here in Nepal. I realized that there was so much that could be done to efficiently produce huge amounts of wheat from our fertile land in Nepal.”

Mr. Jay Ram Subedi had a different take on this question. He explained “It was not only about the contents of the training that I could learn from this program. It was their hospitality and welcoming gestures that could always be learned. They assisted us throughout the 7 days in such a warm manner. The University as well as the Chinese authority was very considerate towards our desire for learning. It was one thing all of us could not forget.”

Which session was the most effective and in what way?

Most of the trainees mentioned that the rice-farming, mushroom-farming, poultry-farming, and vegetable-farming sessions were the most effective sessions for practical implementation in Nepal.

In a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the least effective and 5 being the most effective), how effective did you think the program was in terms of learning, practicality, issue addressing, viable for implementation and productive?

The attendees of this program were overwhelmed by the scope of the program.

Also, another trainee Mr. Kanchan Adhikari mentioned “After that training I realized, we were in zero level of farming. But now, after this program I feel I have learnt a lot regarding agricultural techniques. I would give it a score of 100% and I am sure I will also transform the learning into one of my own business.”

Ms. Sushila Poudel contradictorily said, “The technologies that have been currently used in China cannot be transferred here just now. Nepal lacks the preliminary infrastructure to start agriculture in a modernized way. The training gave us a lot of insights regarding the scope but in terms of implementation, we can follow such agricultural processes only on a very small scale; full implementation of such techniques will take some time in Nepal.”

What suggestions would you like to give and what were the rooms for improvement while conducting such programs in future?

When asked this question, Mr. Sudarshan Dhimal mentioned, “I highly benefited from this program. It has helped me expand my horizon on agriculture. I thought agriculture could never be commercialized to sustain life in a luxury manner. I am highly motivated by this program and I think this type of program should be conducted at regular time intervals to help Nepalese farmers prosper.”

Benefits and Outcome from the Program

The program was an eye-opener to many of our participants/ trainees who had been following traditional methods of agriculture. The technologies, techniques and processes that China followed for agriculture as well as animal husbandry were a huge lesson that could be implemented in Nepal too. Nepal has a problem in terms of basic irrigation facility, cropping pattern, use of seeds and fertilizers, etc. Therefore, this training that covered all aspects from different types of crops to their techniques of farming was all very advantageous to our trainees. 

Ms. Ranjana Ghimire mentioned “I had not expected this program to be of such a huge scope. It covered a lot of aspects of agriculture-from types of farming to the way they should be conducted to their business implications. It gave me a lot of permanent solutions to the problems I was facing while growing several crops. Therefore, the program is a five-on-five for me.”

Apart from the core agricultural learning’s that were taught in the session, the hospitality that the Chinese people showed was a major takeaway. Nepal is a place with immense natural beauty and scope for tourism. Therefore, the trainees could benefit a lot from the hospitality that they experienced at China. They could take back the welcoming nature and attitude to welcome tourists in Nepal.

Lastly, many agricultural farmers had the determination and zeal to implement the Chinese farming practices in Nepal too. When they were asked on how they would implement the takeaway from the training, many of them replied that they would practice mushroom farming, kiwi farming, poultry farming, etc.

Hence, the training program derived numerous benefits to our trainees.