Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
countriesᆳparticularly those considered to be developedᆳrely
on primary industries for just a small fraction of their gross
domestic product (GDP). In the United States and Canada, for
example, less than 2 percent of the GDP comes from primary
industrial activities. In Nepal, the figure is 38 percent from
agriculture alone. Another revealing figure is productivity. In
both the United States and Canada, less than one percent of
the population is engaged in primary economic activities, but
their productivity is greater than their number. In Nepal, on the
other hand, nearly 80 percent of the population depends upon
agricultureᆳbut farming and herding contribute only 38 per-
cent of the country's GDP. This means that Nepal's rural people
are quite unproductive economically relative to their numbers.
It also suggests that most farming is for subsistence only and
that, by and large, practices are quite inefficient. This situation,
however, is very typical of a traditional folk society.
Agriculture
Traditional agricultural methods have changed little since
ancient times. Nepalese peasants utilize small parcels of land,
which are passed down from generation to generation through
inheritance, to feed their families. They primarily grow staple
foods such as rice, wheat, and corn, and root crops, most of
which is used for human subsistence or livestock. Commer-
cial and industrial crops include sugarcane, jute (a fiber), and
tobacco. Livestock products include water buffalo meat and
milk. Most of the country's agriculture is in the warm, moist,
lowland plains of the Terai region.
Agriculture in local villages is a family activity in which
children help their parents at all stagesᆳfrom tilling the fields
and planting to harvesting. In a good year, when surpluses are
available, peasants exchange grain for other goods that are
manufactured by their neighbors. Sometimes they travel to a
local market, where they can acquire clothes, tools, and other
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