Enhancing Food Security in an Era of Rising Fertilizer Prices: Evaluation of an Intervention Promoting Mungbean Adoption in Nepal

Narayan Prasad Khanal, Dyutiman Choudhary () and Ganesh Thapa ()
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Narayan Prasad Khanal: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
Dyutiman Choudhary: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
Ganesh Thapa: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI, United States

Asian Development Review (ADR), 2025, vol. 42, issue 01, 179-207

Abstract: The improved food security in Asia that has facilitated the region’s development progress depends on nitrogenous fertilizers. Rising prices and shortages of imported fertilizer have prompted countries to explore alternative sources of crop nitrogen, including diversification with legumes. We evaluate an intervention in Nepal that promoted mungbean adoption. Our doubly robust impact evaluation approach accounts for nonrandom patterns of adoption related to livestock rearing, participation in agricultural cooperatives and training, and greater irrigated land use. Adopters growing mungbean for the 2-year study period showed an average increase of 20 kilograms (kg) in their annual consumption of mungbean-based foods, applied almost 40kg per hectare (ha) less fertilizers to their rice crops, and obtained an additional 280kg in rice yield per ha. Hence, agricultural innovations that use legumes such as mungbean can help promote sustainable intensification of cereal-based production systems, while enhancing food security and reducing balance-of-payments issues for the countries dependent on fertilizer imports.

Keywords: adoption; food security; mungbean; rice; soil fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q01 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1142/S0116110525500015

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