Landlocked between China and India, Nepal extends 800km east to west, filled with picturesque mountainsides and spicy cultural cuisine (Acharya, 2006). Due to the countries large elevation change, Nepal is broken into three different farming systems (Fonzen, 1984). Mountain farming, which consists of rocky to sandy loam, very little access through the use of roads, and a warm temperature climate. The mountains contain very little plant agriculture, but are a great region for cattle grazing (Chapagain, 2016). The second being hillside farming, which consists of forest land, cattle grazing land, and sandy soil. The hills have a warm to sub-tropic climate, making it a suitable place for the growth of fruit such as apples, pears, citrus fruit and common vegetables like corn and millet. Moving to the south of Nepal, one will find the most highly fertile flat soil, which is suitable for crop growth such as rice, corn, and wheat (Chapagain, 2016).
Due to the fact that only 18.6% of the Nepalese population has urbanized and the unemployment rate is just over 40%, Nepal is known as among some of the poorest countries in the world (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). With a GDP of only 70.09 billion, compared to the 98 billion which is considered to be the average, Nepal’s purchasing power is very little in comparison to first world countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England and China (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). This lack of buying power means the country cannot afford luxury items like oil, electricity or even herbicides for crops.
Nepal's Need For Canada's Export
Tree growth in Nepal can be found in the mountains region, with the largest amount of fruit growth being grown on trees in the hillside region (Chapagain, 2016). Fruit growth in Nepal is considered subsistence farming, as farmers base their decision to plant trees on specific household needs and only sell the fruit at the market if there is an abundance of leftover (Malla, 2000). Growing on their own land means there will be limitations when it comes to precipitation levels, labor for picking weeds and most importantly, the time in which it takes a fruit tree to mature. When these trees are in their early stages of growth, the largest limiting factor Nepalese face is weeds. Invasive weeds such as the parthenium hysterophorus , will drown out tree saplings when not picked by hand on a daily basis (Shrestha and Shabbir and Adkins, 2015). Introducing weed mats will limit weeds like the parthenium hysterophorus, allowing Nepalese women to spend more labor hours caring for their other crops. The speed at which fruit trees grow really depends on the climate and soil they are planted in. When there is high elevation point in the land, as for example the Himalia’s in Nepal, the tree becomes very limited to the temperature and requires larger amounts of humidity and water as opposed to trees grown in perfect conditions (Shrestha and Hofgaard and Vandvik, 2015). Each year Nepal is gifted with a monsoon occurring in July, but with global warming effects, this monsoon is providing less and less water to the minuteness regions each year, creating patches of drought (Sharma, 1979). With the introduction of tree tubes, rainfall is captured and stored for the trees later use, along with providing a humid climate within the confines of the tube.