Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system

Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Altho...

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Autores principales: Devkota, Rachana, Pant, Laxmi Prasad, Gartaula, Hom Nath, Patel, Kirit, Gauchan, Devendra, Hambly Odame, Helen, Thapa, Balaram, Raizada, Manish N.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106479
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author Devkota, Rachana
Pant, Laxmi Prasad
Gartaula, Hom Nath
Patel, Kirit
Gauchan, Devendra
Hambly Odame, Helen
Thapa, Balaram
Raizada, Manish N.
author_browse Devkota, Rachana
Gartaula, Hom Nath
Gauchan, Devendra
Hambly Odame, Helen
Pant, Laxmi Prasad
Patel, Kirit
Raizada, Manish N.
Thapa, Balaram
author_facet Devkota, Rachana
Pant, Laxmi Prasad
Gartaula, Hom Nath
Patel, Kirit
Gauchan, Devendra
Hambly Odame, Helen
Thapa, Balaram
Raizada, Manish N.
author_sort Devkota, Rachana
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal.
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spelling CGSpace1064792025-11-12T05:40:46Z Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system Devkota, Rachana Pant, Laxmi Prasad Gartaula, Hom Nath Patel, Kirit Gauchan, Devendra Hambly Odame, Helen Thapa, Balaram Raizada, Manish N. farms farming systems agricultural mechanization sustainable agriculture innovation policies national planning exploitaciones agrarias sistemas de explotación agricultura sostenible innovación políticas planificación nacional Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal. 2020-01-02 2020-01-09T10:26:09Z 2020-01-09T10:26:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106479 en Open Access application/pdf MDPI Devkota, R.; Pant, L.P.; Gartaula, H.N.; Patel, K.; Gauchan, D.; Hambly-Odame, H.; Thapa, B.; Raizada, M.N. (2020) Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system. Sustainability 12(1) 24 p. ISSN: 2071-1050
spellingShingle farms
farming systems
agricultural mechanization
sustainable agriculture
innovation
policies
national planning
exploitaciones agrarias
sistemas de explotación
agricultura sostenible
innovación
políticas
planificación nacional
Devkota, Rachana
Pant, Laxmi Prasad
Gartaula, Hom Nath
Patel, Kirit
Gauchan, Devendra
Hambly Odame, Helen
Thapa, Balaram
Raizada, Manish N.
Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title_full Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title_fullStr Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title_full_unstemmed Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title_short Responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of Nepal’s hillside farming system
title_sort responsible agricultural mechanization innovation for the sustainable development of nepal s hillside farming system
topic farms
farming systems
agricultural mechanization
sustainable agriculture
innovation
policies
national planning
exploitaciones agrarias
sistemas de explotación
agricultura sostenible
innovación
políticas
planificación nacional
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106479
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