Before the lockdown was enforced to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Mukesh Yadav of Bijayapur Municipality-1, Rautahat, hardly had time to spare as he was busy selling seedlings of papaya and banana.

It has been just two years since he started a nursery to produce seedlings at his five kattha (1,690 sq m) of land by spending around Rs2.5 million.

Although he can’t sell seedlings due to lockdown, his ambition to expand hasn’t changed. “I have been struggling to fulfill the massive demand for seedlings ever since my nursery started producing them,” said Yadav. “ I am preparing to expand the nursery by investing Rs 3 milion in Birgunj as the city is well connected to the market.”

Yadav said although he hasn’t calculated his profit ratio, the numbers are good. “From one kg of papaya seeds, about 50,000 seedlings can be produced and I make a profit of Rs 10-15 per seedling.”

Agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are some of the most profitable sectors in the country, according to a new analysis based on the National Economic Census conducted in 2018 by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The study says that the annual profit ratio for 24,229 firms registered in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors stood at 55.7 percent, followed by education (46.1 percent), wholesale and retail sales and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (43 percent), and mining and quarrying (42.2 percent).

The data on remarkable profit in the commercial agriculture sector, could work as an incentive for migrant workers to engage in commercial agriculture, said officials and economists.

Similarly, the principles and priorities of the upcoming budget show that the government will introduce programmes to encourage self-employment for returnees from foreign employment in agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises, and the service sector. This could also encourage people returning home to start their own business, they said.

“In Nepal, there is a distaste for professions related to agriculture among many youths, but the profit ratio shown by the census could encourage them to enter into commercial agriculture,” said Nabin Lal Shrestha, director general at the statistics bureau. “We have also read in the news that many migrant workers, who returned home, have started commercial agriculture.”

Yadav said although he didn’t go abroad for work, many of his clients, who want to start commercial banana and papaya farming, are recent returnees.

According to a recent study conducted by the Foreign Employment Board, at least 127,000

Nepali migrant workers are expected to return home from the Gulf and Malaysia after international travel restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are over.

A total of 407,000 are expected to return home in the long-run as the economies of the host countries are projected to contract due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are over 1.5 million Nepali migrant workers in these countries, according to the board.

Economists say that although a section of returnees migrant workers who return could be self-employed in commercial farming, many have other skills which should be utilised in their respective fields. The government should also help create self-employment in these sectors, they said.

Senior Economist Keshav Acharya said that not many migrant Nepali workers in the Gulf have been employed in crop-based agriculture farming. “Some are employed in livestock farming and have expertise in modern livestock farming,” he said. “Some are into restaurant business. The government can help them form cooperatives based on their skill sets and help them start related businesses,” he said. “Nepali embassies abroad countries should ask the workers to get skill certificates that can be recognised by the government here.”

According to Acharya, many Nepali workers going to Israel and South Korea have learnt modern agriculture and many of them have done good jobs after returning home to start commercial crop agriculture.

Economists say that there is a huge scope in commercial agriculture as the most of the country’s population is engaged in subsistence farming only.

But, for the farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in commercial farming, mitigating risks related to the market and supply chains is the main challenge.

“Taking agriculture products to the market is one of the biggest challenges for people engaged in commercial agriculture,” said another economist Govinda Nepal. “The government should facilitate them to deliver the products to the market through the cooperatives, set up large sales outlets and storage centres,” he said.

But, he insisted that there is also scope for many Nepalis to replace foreign workers who have been working in Nepal’s service and manufacturing sector such as vegetables and fruits shops, hairdressing and plumbing.

In fact, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada had said in a recent press meet that many Nepalis could be employed in various industries where foreigners have replaced locals who have migrated abroad.

The government is already making plans to absorb migrant workers returning home. The Ministry of the Industry, Commerce and Supply, which is running two projects to promote entrepreneurship, has recently formed a task force to suggest areas where migrant workers could be self-employed.

Currently, the Rural Enterprises and Remittance Project (Samriddhi) and Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation are operational to promote entrepreneurship.

Chandra Ghimire, secretary at the ministry, told the Post that the government was preparing to expand and restructure these two programmes to accommodate migrant workers who might return. Sambridhhi is currently being run in three provinces while the other project is active at all 753 municipalities, according to the ministry. “Other measures will be taken based on recommendation of the taskforce,” he said.