Effectiveness of Government Policy for Cereal Crop Seed Marketing in Syangja District, Nepal

Abstract

The study investigates the implementation of government policies on marketing of cereal crop seed in Syangja district of Nepal. The public interventions aimed at increasing the availability of inputs for seed production are insufficient. Although they seek to improve the system, they do not adequately address the underlying structural problems in the input market. The data were descriptively analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Chi-square test using a randomized sample of 223 seed producing farmers calculated via Yamane’s formula. The study highlighted an absolute institutional dependence of 100% such that respondents used only publicly funded source seeds and technical extension services. The source seed production is almost fully subsidized (99.10%), but the satisfaction with agricultural policies remains moderate, being 2.15 out of 3.0. Institutional testing services and seed support ranked the highest on satisfaction, while DESES and formal seed price mechanisms fared poorly. Major market vulnerabilities include crop damage by wild animals (index value = 0.97) and poor market prices (reported by 85.2% of farmers). These problems are made worse by the very low crop insurance enrollment rate of only 0.90%. The study recommends strengthening policy implementation by expanding support beyond production subsidies to include post-harvest processing, improving the functionality and crop-specific applicability of the Digitally Enabled Seed Subsidy Management System (DESES), and promoting accessible crop insurance schemes to enhance market resilience and reduce farmers’ exposure to wildlife and climate-related risks.