Opportunities and limitations to the irrigation-led sustainable intensification of mixed farming systems in Nepal’s mid-hills

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia characterized by a rugged hilly landscape stretching from east to west in between the Himalayan Mountain range in its north and the Indo-Gangetic Plains in its south. Food insecurity affects over half the population, and a quarter lives below the poverty line (NPC, 2021). Agricultural development has been slow, yet since the 1960’s enhanced infrastructure (e.g. roads, communication, irrigation) and access to inputs (e.g. fertilizers, pesticides, mechanization) led to improvements in smallholder livelihoods with 44.7% of farming households shifting from subsistence to entrepreneurial farming. However, overall food grain self-sufficiency declines, reliance on imports increases, and poverty and food insecurity prevail (Khanal et al., 2020). Irrigation-led intensification is considered key to closing yield gaps, mitigating water shortages, and extending the cropping season, thereby boosting agricultural productivity. Farmer-led initiatives have been promoted to develop cost-effective renewable energy-powered irrigation systems adapted to local conditions (Khadka et al. 2021; Nepal et al., 2021; Pradhan et al. 2017). The sustainable intensification (SI) of smallholder mixed farming systems (MFS) has received considerable interest for its potential to improve the productivity as well as the resilience of production systems, mainly through the formulation of policy recommendations and the identification of technological interventions (FAO, 2011; Mabhaudhi et al., 2023). However, scientific evidence regarding how SI interventions influence farm management practices and ecosystem services has been limited, especially so in the context of Nepal’s mid-hills (Krupnik et al., 2021). To evaluate the potential of irrigation-led and sustainable intensification, an analysis combining field and farm level assessment is required. The objective of this research was to investigate the potential of irrigation and year-round cropping systems including legumes for the sustainable intensification (SI) of maize-based, mixed farming systems (MFS) in Nepal’s mid-hills.