SURKHET, Dec 14: Only 30 percent of families in Karnali Province are self-reliant in agricultural production, according to the national agriculture census, 2078. A large 70 percent cannot feed themselves with the productions throughout the year. 

Out of the total 302,000 families who have taken up agriculture in the province, the productions sustain only 90,600 families throughout the year, said the report published here by the National Statistics Office. 

In the province, 82.63 percent of people are farmers who practice agriculture in 17,411 hectares of land. 

In the context of a large chunk of people being dependent on agriculture, but the production not being enough to make themselves self-reliant in agricultural products, the government should bring a production-friendly policy, said Badri Kumar Karki, the NSO director. 

"Most of the citizens of Karnali are involved in agriculture. But the production is very low. It is necessary for the government to bring a production friendly plan in the days to come," he said. In doing agriculture, farmers are found to have used new technology replacing old ones. For an instance, tractors and power tillers have replaced iron or wooden plows, according to the report. 

With the increasing trend of migrating to city areas and foreign countries for various purposes including job opportunities, much land, especially in the hilly areas, remains barren. 

Against this backdrop, warning that dependence would increase due to a lack of production activities, experts have suggested that the government bring a plan based on the statistics. 

Saying that it was increasingly difficult to bring a plan and a budget due to the lack of statistics of the province, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of the province, Bhim Prakash Sharma said these statistics would help the government to make a plan and bring a budget.  

He also stressed the need for the government at all three levels to bring a plan so as to increase the production and guarantee a market. 

A workforce of around 7,000 was mobilized for the census and it took 45 days, said Dr Dilliraj Joshi, joint secretary and deputy chief of the NSO. 

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