AGROECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND ITS GAPS IN ADAPTION IN TERAI FARMING SYSTEM, NEPAL

Abstract. The present paper examines agroecological principles identified by FAO and its gaps by local farmers in terai farming system of Nepal. Household questionnaire survey, focus group discussion and KII were major tools of required information collection with regard to gaps of agroecology principles in their farming system. Agro-ecological principles have been examined with current farming practices carried out by local farmers. The gap analysis has been done with respect to ten agroecological principles: Efficient use of resources, balance use of chemical and organic fertilizer, , crop diversity, co-creation of knowledge, recycling of farm waste, synergy of crop, livestock and forestry ,human and social value, circular economy, cultural and food tradition, land and natural resource governance. 87.8 percent of households were used flooding method of surface irrigation against to principle of efficiency and deficit of water leading to wastage of water and constraining self-generating nutrient capacity of nature. 91.60 % of total cropped area was dominated by paddy - wheat based cropping system against to the principle of crop diversity. 72.4 % farmers used farm yard manure in limited temporal and spatial coverage area ranging from 0.03 ha to 1.69 hectare with the average of 0.39 ha and three months of year against the principle of recycling farm wastage to farm. Almost 14 % of households were having agroforestry practices against to the synergies of crop, livestock and forestry. Participation of women and youth in farming practices was found decreased due to remittance-led family economy. Geospatial technology-RS, GIS and GPS were extensively applied in preparation of all these agroecological resource maps required for agroecological studies and creation of their geo-database for sustainable land use planning in Nepal. Finally, the study necessitated the government policy to be instutionalized towards agroecological concept and hoped the methodology developed for this study could guide for achieving this goal.