Monsoon arrives in Kathmandu valley today and farmers are celebrating Rice Plantation Day by actively showing saplings in their farmlands. Celebrating Dhan Diwas or Rice Plantation day, Alternate Energy Promotion Center, organised a discussion program today to show integration of renewable energy in agriculture sector to increase benefits from farming.
Government of Nepal has prioritised agriculture sector as one of the national priority sector and energy is one of the key driver for increasing agri yield. There is adoption of modern agricultural technologies such as efficient solar based irrigation techniques, and energy efficient mechanisation to increase productivity and resilience to climate change.
Host of renewable energy experts, government officials and entrepreneurs discussed on introduction of solar dryers, solar thermal systems, introduction of efficient solar cold chain management system to preserve fruits and introduction of ripening technology instead of use of carbide, was discussed to strengthen value chain of agriculture sector in Nepal. Entrepreneur shared their experiences on ways to strengthen value chain from farm to fork. Ganesh Shah, former Minister of Science & Technology chaired the event.
-Sweta Singh
