Impact of agricultural subsidy on three cereal crops cultivated in Dailekh district, Nepal

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of agricultural subsidies on the three primary cereal crops—rice, maize, and wheat in Dailekh district of Karnali province, Nepal and to evaluate the current status of subsidies, their impact on agricultural cultivation, and the variables affecting their allocation. The data was collected through a scheduled of semi-structured surveys and interviews from Narayan municipality of Dailekh district. Data was collected from 100 respondents, among them 60 were subsidy recipients and 40 were non-recipient, using a random sampling technique. A logistic regression model was used to determine the main factors affecting access to subsidies, such as gender, cooperative membership, farm size, and educational attainment. The results showed that the cost NPR 12,283 (90.94$) and NPR 17,625 (130.49$) on land preparation for rice cultivation; NPR 2,737 (20.26$) NPR 9,973 (73.84$) on land preparation for maize cultivation, while NPR 7,010 (51.90$) and NPR 9,417 (69.72$) on land preparation for wheat cultivation was found to be significantly (p<0.01) different among the subsidy recipients and subsidy non-recipient’s farmers, respectively. Similarly, cost of seeds of rice, maize and wheat was also found to be significantly (p<0.05) different between the subsidy recipients and subsidy non-recipient’s farmers. The findings emphasize that targeted and effective subsidy programs should be required to increase the cereal production in Dailekh district of Nepal. Thus, policymakers should concentrate on enhancing marginalized farmer’s access to subsidies, guaranteeing distribution transparency, and launching training programs in order to optimize the advantages of agricultural support programs.