| Introduction
National Wheat Research Program (NWRP) was established
in 1972 at Khumaltar, Lalitpur under the name of National
Wheat Development Program. In 1975, it was transferred
to Bhairahawa Agricultural Farm, which was established
in 1960. Geographically, the station is located at 105
meters above sea level and 27°32’ north latitude
and 83°25’ east longitude. It is 300 km west
of capital city Kathamandu and 21 km east of Lumbini
the birthplace of Lord Buddha.
The climate at NWRP is subtropical. The recorded maximum
temperature in summer is 44.6°C and minimum temperature
in winter is 4.8°C. The average annual rain fall
is 1700 mm, with maximum and minimum mean temperature
of June and January is 30.8 0C and 14.7 0C respectively.
NWRP station has a total of 35 hectares of land area
out of which 25 hectares are utilized for wheat research
and production activities and rest 10 hectares are occupied
by farm roads drainage, office and residence facilities.
Wheat is the third largest cereal crop in Nepal after
rice and maize. Before the introduction of Mexican semi-dwarf
wheat varieties, wheat cultivation in Nepal was limited
to mid and far-western hills only and it was considered
as a minor cereal in the country. After the introduction
of semi-dwarf varieties from Mexico, the area and production
of wheat in Nepal has been increased dramatically and
now it has significant contribution to the national
food supply. In 1965/66, wheat area in the country was
100,000 ha and the production was 112,000 metric tons.
In 2006/07, its area and production have increased to
702664 ha and 1515139 metric tons respectively. The
present national average wheat productivity is 2156
kg/ha. Wheat is cultivated in 20 percent of the total
cultivated land area and contributes 18.8 percent to
the total national cereal production. Per capita wheat
consumption has increased from 17.4 kg in 1972 at the
time of NWRP establishment to 60 kg in 2007. In Terai,
as irrigation facility is steadily increasing there
is still ample opportunity to expand the wheat area
where the lands remain fallow after rice harvesting.
Goal and objectives
NWRP’s major goal is to contribute in enhanced
livelihood and the main objective is to make the nation
self-sustained in food supply through increased wheat
production and productivity by conducting applied research
in collaboration with related national and international
organizations, developing improved wheat varieties,
wheat production technologies, multiplying wheat breeder
seed and disseminating wheat related information.
Mandate
Following are the major national mandates of NWRP:
1) Develop, implement, coordinate and monitor multilocational
and multi-disciplinary adaptive research for developing
superior varieties resistant/tolerant to biotic and
abiotic stresses for different agro-climatic conditions
2) collect evaluate, identify, maintain and use of suitable
donors for different biotic and abiotic stresses 3)
develop appropriate wheat crop production technologies
for optimal use of resources in a sustainable manner
4) produce nucleus and breeder seeds of popular varieties
in required quantity 5) carryout off-season breeding
work for rapid generation advancement at suitable hill
site and 6) establish national and international linkages
for strengthening wheat improvement research in the
country.
Activities
The major activities include conducting wheat research
on:
i) Varietal improvement
- Development of wheat varieties suitable for different
agro-ecological domains (Terai under irrigated normal
planting, irrigated late planting, rainfed conditions
and mid and high hill environments).
- Development of high-yielding and disease-resistant
wheat varieties suitable for existing cropping pattern
- Development of product specific wheat varieties
required by various wheat based industrties.
ii) Resource management:
- Development of improved wheat production technologies
(Irrigation and fertilizer management, time and method
of crop establishment, weed management etc.) suitable
for different agro-climatic conditions
- Identification of farmers' problems through on-site
inspection of farmers' fields and solving them through
adaptive research
- Scaling up of resource conservation technologies
(RCTs) to farming communities through pluralistic
approach.
iii) Research on crop protection
- Detection of major diseases and insects on wheat,
estimation of their damage, identification and development
of insects and disease resistant wheat varieties and
disease management techniques.
iv) Outreach research activities
- On-farm verification of station developed technologies
through farmers' field testing and mini-kit distribution
of recently released and pre-release wheat varieties
and other technologies under farmers' situations.
- Provide farmers with technical knowledge through
different media.
v) Source Seed production
- Produce wheat nucleus and breeder seeds as per
need
- Provide breeder seed to different farms /stations,
seed companies for foundation seed production and
supervise them
- Assist farmers in seed multiplication program through
technical advice
- Assist in wheat production in coordination with
different stakeholders
vi) Wheat germplasm exchange
with different (CIMMYT, ICARDA, DWR-
India, WRC-Bangladesh etc.) national and international
agencies
Economic achievements
Research Achievements
NWRP has made remarkable achievements in its almost
50 years of wheat research and development.
- Since 1960/61, wheat area has increased six folds
and reached 702664 hectares from 100000 hectares.
In the same period, wheat production has increased
14 folds and reached 1515139 metric tons from 112000
metric tons. In 1972, when the wheat development program
was started, wheat productivity was 933 kg/ha, which
has now more than doubled to 2156 kg/ha.
- NWRP has released 29 improved wheat varieties in
last 40 years and assisted in their dissemination
through different ways.
- Recommended wheat varieties are very popular among
farmers.
- More than 95% of the total wheat area has been
covered by improved wheat varieties.
- Cropping intensity has increased due to early maturing
wheat varieties.
- Per capita wheat consumption has been increased.
- Quantitative growth has been observed in wheat
based industries in the country.
- Wheat has provided direct employment to the farmers
for about five months.
- Wheat based products like noodle, biscuits and
Cookies are exported to India and China.
Economic achievements
- Wheat crop has played a great role in internal
food supply in the country, equivalent to more than
26 billion rupees annually.
- Economic analysis of the past three decades (1960-1992)
wheat research showed that the nation has gained 75
to 84% internal rate of return to the total investment
in wheat research.
- In comparison with the old varieties, new wheat
varieties have contributed increased annual wheat
yield by 1.5%.
Researchers
- Mr. Madan Raj Bhatta, Senior Scientist, Coordinator
of the Program
- Mr. Janmjay Prasad Tripathi, Senior Scientist
Contact Address
Nepal Agricultural Research Council
National Wheat Research Program
Bhairahawa, Rupandehi
Phone: 071-522196,520226,520431
Fax: 071-521905
E-mail: nwrp@nec.com.np
Website: www.narc.org.np
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