Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Impact Of Irrigation Method On Water Use Efficiency And Productivity Of Fodder Crops In Nepal, Ajay K. Jha, Razan Malla, Mohan Sharma, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Piyush Dahal, Madan Lall Shrestha
Impact Of Irrigation Method On Water Use Efficiency And Productivity Of Fodder Crops In Nepal, Ajay K. Jha, Razan Malla, Mohan Sharma, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Piyush Dahal, Madan Lall Shrestha
Publications and Research
Improved irrigation use efficiency is an important tool for intensifying and diversifying agriculture in Nepal, resulting in higher economic yield from irrigated farmlands with a minimum input of water. Research was conducted to evaluate the effect of irrigation method (furrow vs. drip) on the productivity of nutritious fodder species during off-monsoon dry periods in different elevation zones of central Nepal. A split-block factorial design was used. The factors considered were treatment location, fodder crop, and irrigation method. Commonly used local agronomical practices were followed in all respects except irrigation method. Results revealed that location effect was significant (p < 0.01) with highest fodder productivity seen for the middle elevation site, Syangja. Species effects were also significant, with teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana) having higher yield than cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Irrigation method impacted green biomass yield (higher with furrow irrigation) but both methods yielded similar dry biomass, while water use was 73% less under drip irrigation. Our findings indicated that the controlled application of water through drip irrigation is able to produce acceptable yields of nutritionally dense fodder species during dry seasons, leading to more effective utilization and resource conservation of available land, fertilizer and water. Higher productivity of these nutritional fodders resulted in higher milk productivity for livestock smallholders. The ability to grow fodder crops year-round in lowland and hill regions of Nepal with limited water storages using low-cost, water-efficient drip irrigation may greatly increase livestock productivity and, hence, the economic security of smallholder farmers.
Probabilistic Precipitation Estimation With A Satellite Product, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha
Probabilistic Precipitation Estimation With A Satellite Product, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha
Publications and Research
Satellite-based precipitation products have been shown to represent precipitation well over Nepal at monthly resolution, compared to ground-based stations. Here, we extend our analysis to the daily and subdaily timescales, which are relevant for mapping the hazards caused by storms as well as drought. We compared the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42RT product with individual stations and with the gridded APHRODITE product to evaluate its ability to retrieve different precipitation intensities. We find that 3B42RT, which is freely available in near real time, has reasonable correspondence with ground-based precipitation products on a daily timescale; rank …
National Livestock Policy Of Nepal: Needs And Opportunities, Upendra B. Pradhanang, Soni M. Pradhanang, Arhan Sthapit, Nir Y. Krakauer, Ajay K. Jha, Tarendra Lakhankar
National Livestock Policy Of Nepal: Needs And Opportunities, Upendra B. Pradhanang, Soni M. Pradhanang, Arhan Sthapit, Nir Y. Krakauer, Ajay K. Jha, Tarendra Lakhankar
Publications and Research
This paper describes Nepal’s national livestock policies and considers how they can be improved to help meet the pressing national challenges of economic development, equity, poverty alleviation, gender mainstreaming, inclusion of marginalized and underprivileged communities, and climate vulnerability. Nepal is in the process of transforming its government from a unitary system to a federal democratic structure through the new constitution expected by 2015, offering the opportunity to bring a new set of priorities and stakeholders to policymaking. Nepal’s livestock subsector comes most directly within the purview of the National Agricultural Policy 2004, Agro-Business Policy, 2006 and Agricultural Sectoral Operating Policies …
Evaluating Satellite Products For Precipitation Estimation In Mountain Regions: A Case Study For Nepal, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha
Evaluating Satellite Products For Precipitation Estimation In Mountain Regions: A Case Study For Nepal, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha
Publications and Research
Precipitation in mountain regions is often highly variable and poorly observed, limiting abilities to manage water resource challenges. Here, we evaluate remote sensing and ground station-based gridded precipitation products over Nepal against weather station precipitation observations on a monthly timescale. We find that the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B-43 precipitation product exhibits little mean bias and reasonable skill in giving precipitation over Nepal. Compared to station observations, the TRMM precipitation product showed an overall Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.49, which is similar to the skill of the gridded station-based product Asian Precipitation-Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water …