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Climate change has severely impacted the rain-fed agricultural production system which is dominant in Nepal. This situation demands implementable strategies like supplemental irrigation for mitigating adverse impacts. In spite of the importance of supplemental irrigation, it is not adopted on a wider scale. Hence, this paper aims to assess perceptions of climate change and identify factors that influence the adoption of supplemental irrigation practices. Climate change impact survey data for Province No. 1 (one of the seven provinces in Nepal) with a sample of 800 households were analyzed by using the probit regression model. The results showed that the majority of the farmers perceived increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation, resulting in climate-induced disasters such as drought. Similarly, only about 27% of the households have adopted supplemental irrigation practices. The significant factors influencing the adoption of supplemental irrigation practices were the household head’s number of years of farming experience and education level, distance to motorable roads, operational size of landholding, membership in community-based organizations, and the perception of changes in summer temperature. Considering the empirical results, it is necessary to undertake research on sustainable practices and develop support measures for scaling up this practice as the adoption of this practice is very low in Province No. 1. The policy and strategy should also emphasize enhancing the capacity of farmers in technical and managerial aspects of supplemental irrigation practices, raising awareness about climate change and its impact, and strengthening community-based organizations for sharing and exchanging knowledge and skills. In addition, creating additional employment opportunities to enhance the income of the farmers for mitigating the capital constraint and increasing investment in infrastructures like roads for improving physical access thereby promoting adoption.

One of the major policies in response to global climate change is reduction of green house gases emission. Community forests of Nepal are acting as major sources and sink of green house gases, in spite of providing socio-economic benefits to the user groups. There is a lack of information on whether community forests address the socio-economic disparity of user groups, and how it affects opportunity cost and willingness to pay to the forest users groups. Focusing on how the socio-economic conditions of forest users affect forest management, opportunity cost and willingness to pay; and effect of carbon trading mechanism and discounting on the cost benefit ratio, this study was carried out in one CF in western Nepal. The data collection methods included carbon stock measurement, household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview. Study has shown that most of the forest users are in medium and poor economic classes and female involvement in forest conservation and management was remarkable. Poor people had high dependency on forest product and are most likely affected in terms of opportunity cost. Rich people were willing to pay more to sustain forest ecosystem services. Benefit cost ratio measured directly with and without discounting was 3.91 and 2.97, respectively. The findings of the present study indicate that the community forests users groups are benefitted from the current state of management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i2.10522 International Journal of the Environment Vol.3(2) 2014: 108-124

A regional survey was conducted in Nepal for antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in domestic animals. Sera from pigs, and limited numbers of ducks and horses were collected from 16 districts in 2002-2003 and subjected to three serological tests. Of 270 porcine sera tested by C-ELISA, 55% were found positive for the presence of antibodies against Japanese encephalitis virus. Additional testing for IgM antibody to JEV revealed less than 2% of C-ELISA positive sera had evidence of recent JEV infection. Plaque reduction neutralisation tests (PRNT) using JEV, Murray Valley encephalitis (MVEV) and Kunjin (KUNV) viruses implicated JEV as the flavivirus associated with the observed antibody response in most sero-positive pigs. However, eight porcine sera with predominant neutralising antibody for KUNV (an Australasian subtype of West Nile Virus) provided evidence for the circulation of West Nile virus in Nepal.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has not been reported in Nepal to date. Surveillance for the presence of avian influenza viruses was conducted in 16 districts of Nepal from February 2004 to December 2005. Four hundred forty-six serum samples were collected from ducks, chickens, and pigeons and tested for antibodies to all influenza A viruses by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA). Any sera positive by C-ELISA were tested for antibodies to H5, H7, and H9 influenza viruses by hemagglutination inhibition tests. One hundred and thirty-five cloacal swabs from healthy ducks and chickens were tested by commercial avian influenza antigen detection kits. A further 13 tissue samples from diseased birds were tested for the presence of virus by virus isolation in eggs, cell culture, and immunohistochemistry. No influenza viruses were detected in any of the tissues or swabs. All serum samples collected before October 2005 were negative for antibodies. The first sera positive for antibodies were collected on October 13, 2005, which were determined to be of the H9N2 subtype. This is the first report of serologic evidence of an avian influenza virus infection in Nepal.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an emerging disease of animals and humans in Nepal. A serological study for antibody to JE virus was conducted in Nepal from September 2003 to August 2004 by collecting 280 sera from pigs, ducks, and horses covering 10 districts of the country. These sera were tested by performing competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of antibodies against JE virus. The total number of tested sera was 280, of which 43.92% were found positive for the presence of antibodies against JE virus infection in Nepal. Sero-prevalence of JE in pigs, ducks, and horses was 48.11%, 26.79%, and 50.0%, respectively.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease that is endemic in many parts of the developing world, especially in Africa and Asia. However its epidemiology remains largely unappreciated in much of these regions, such as in Nepal, where limited information is available about the spatiotemporal dynamics of the main etiological agent, the rabies virus (RABV). In this study, we describe for the first time the phylogenetic diversity and evolution of RABV circulating in Nepal, as well as their geographical relationships within the broader region. A total of 24 new isolates obtained from Nepal and collected from 2003 to 2011 were full-length sequenced for both the nucleoprotein and the glycoprotein genes, and analysed using neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic methods with representative viruses from all over the world, including new related RABV strains from neighbouring or more distant countries (Afghanistan, Greenland, Iran, Russia and USA). Despite Nepal's limited land surface and its particular geographical position within the Indian subcontinent, our study revealed the presence of a surprising wide genetic diversity of RABV, with the co-existence of three different phylogenetic groups: an Indian subcontinent clade and two different Arctic-like sub-clades within the Arctic-related clade. This observation suggests at least two independent episodes of rabies introduction from neighbouring countries. In addition, specific phylogenetic and temporal evolution analysis of viruses within the Arctic-related clade has identified a new recently emerged RABV lineage we named as the Arctic-like 3 (AL-3) sub-clade that is already widely spread in Nepal., Author Summary Rabies is endemic in most Asian countries and represents a serious public health issue, with an estimated 31,000 people dying each year of this disease. The majority of human cases are transmitted by domestic dogs, which act as the principal reservoir host and vector. However, molecular epidemiology and evolutionary dynamics of the main etiological agent, the rabies virus (RABV), remains largely unappreciated in some regions such as in Nepal. Based on a subset of 24 new Nepalese isolates collected from 2003 to 2011 and representative RABV strains at a global scale, phylogenetic analysis based on the complete nucleoprotein and glycoprotein genes sequences revealed the presence of a surprising wide genetic diversity of RABV circulating in this country. The presence of three different co-existing phylogenetic groups was identified: an Indian subcontinent clade and two different Arctic-like sub-clades within the Arctic-related clade, namely Arctic-like (AL)-1, lineage a (AL-1a), and AL-3. Among these clusters, the AL-3 sub-clade appears as the major Nepalese phylogroup which emerged relatively recently in this country, within the last 30 years. These data has raised some concerns about the exchange of RABV between different countries, and provided key elements for implementation of effective control measures of rabies in Nepal.