Lentil is a viable agricultural product that can be traded in the Nepalese commodity market. Almost all the districts in the country are capable enough to produce Lentils except Manang and Mustang. Those two districts are trans-Himalayan districts with the most tedious topography in the country. Though most parts of Nepal can produce lentils, Terai region is dominant with the production and more than 90 % of the lentil is grown from this region because of the most favorable climatic and soil conditions. Dang, Rautahat, Bara, Sarlahi, Bardia and Kailali are the major districts producing lentil. The largest exporter of the lentil in the world is Canada; meanwhile one of the major producers of the commodity is India. United States of America (USA) and Turkey are few other nations producing lentils significantly.

Naturally also, Lentil is very tolerant and adaptive plant. Only if it can be provided with good internal drainage, it can adapt in all types of soil- may it be sandy, clayey, loamy, etc. The major obstacle with lentil production can be- the flooded or water-logged soils, lentil cannot absolutely tolerate high amount of water for itself. The best soil, however can be the sandy loam soils which is rich with phosphorous and potassium. Good drainage system is mandatory because even a short span of exposure to high amount of water can kill it. For lentil production, the best soil could be considered as the one with pH close to 7.0. Talking about the usage of lentil in the day-to-day lives of the people, they are very good for our heart and function as the major neutralizer to the muscle acids in our body. They are high in proteins enough to help rebuild our destroyed tissues in glands and blood and their mixed items with fruits and vegetables add up ingredient value of the food.

Nepal Agricultural Research Center (NARC) has been providing the improved variety of seed to the locals at different places with an objective to enhance the lentil production in the country. But the country is lacking in that place where the country, as an entity, cannot do anything, a market place. The country’s role always is to facilitate the market and then enhance the requirements for the effective and efficient market but the country or the government itself cannot work to start a market place. Rather, the government has to take steps to introduce a trade facilitation policy which can assist to seize at least some part of the international market. In the last 10 years, the lentil production has increased by 6.8 % in terms of value and 6.2 % in terms of volume. The percentage increment could be escalated by catalyzing it through the favorable policies.

There are few more products viable but here we discussed only one of them. In short, what we need to understand is that the production is good, the prices are high but farmers do not earn, who earns? The middlemen, there are various levels of middlemen in the market who share the part of farmer’s earning. Commodity exchanges can definitely replace them, but for that Nepali policy should intervene the Agro-insurance sector first. Once the produces in the field are insured, the confidence of farmers increases. Both public and private entities should be encouraged to establish standardized warehouses and the government should be keen enough to promote recognized accreditation agencies. And all of these should be addressed by the full-fledged lawful measures. Once, these pre-requisites are specified, the net public welfare would definitely increase and we could reach close to efficient market- both with pricing and trade.