Nepal can be divided into two distinct wheat production zones [1]:
1) One belt, containing the terai, tars, and lower valleys up to 600 masl, experiences a subtropical climate and has the most fertile soil. This is, by far, the best and the largest wheat production zone comprising the plains area of the terai running east-west in the extreme south as well as other areas of similar environment, i.e., inner terai, foothills, lower valleys, and river basins. The ricewheat rotation is the predominant system of this zone.
2) The second belt, containing the mid-and high hills and running east-west between the terai and the Himalayas, experiences a warm to cool temperate climate. The rice-wheat rotation is common in the mid -hills (600-1700 mas I) while maize-wheat is common in the high hills (above 1700 masl).
Wheat, which ranks third in both area and production after rice and maize, contributes about 21% to the cereal area and 19% to the cereal production of the country (2009-2011). Spring wheat is planted during the winter season, however, the naturally existing agroecological diversity within the country does not totally preclude the possibility of cultivating some winter or facultative wheats in areas yet to be explored.
Until about 50 years ago, wheat was a traditional crop limited to hill areas in the mid-and far-western regions. However, after the introduction of Mexican photo-insensitive, semi-dwarf/dwarf, lodging-resistant, and input-responsive wheat genotypes from India during mid-1960s, wheat production was expanded to other nontraditional areas where a monocrop of rice was the only predominant practice. These photo-insensitive varieties are grown commercially even during the summer season in a wheat-potato rotation in some high mountain areas. Today, wheat is grown on approximately 700,000 ha and has become a vital component both in farms and kitchens of Nepalese farmers.
Priority traits for wheat vatieties in Nepal (apart of yield potential):
- heat tolerance (terminal) and earliness
- rust resistance (all 3 rusts) and foliar blight resistance
- drought stress (only about 25% of wheat area is under irrigation, the rest 75% are plantes into the residual soil moisture)
Wheat-growing farm in Nepal is in average about 0.8 ha (ranging from 0.5 - 10 ha) [2012].
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[1] Devkota, R.N. (1994).Wheat Breeding Objectives In Nepal: The National Testing System ands Recent Progress. In: Saunders, D.A., and G.P. Hettel, eds. 1994. Wheat in Heat-Stressed Environments: Irrigated, Dry Areas and Rice-Wheat Farming Sxstems. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.