Farmers' new strategy: myth or reality

This paper examines the existence of a new strategy supposedly adopted by the farmers under the rapid socioeconomic transformation of rural societies in Nepal. While assessing the validity of the forecast regarding the reduction of pressure on the forests under a changed socioeconomic context, the study categorically rejects the adoption of new strategy by the farmers and the rosy depiction regarding the forests. The study which was conducted in 42 households of Badikhel Village Development Committee, Lalitpur, has found that, in villages, the labour relations are culturally determined, and the predominance of cereal cropping, the income source and other factors determine the purchase of agricultural inputs, mostly fertilizers, etc. The study recommends a subsistence oriented community forest policies in Nepal.