Investment in Wheat Research in Nepal – An Empirical Analysis

Investment in wheat research in Nepal has been examined through estimation of full time equivalent of researchers on the basis of their time spent on wheat crop research. The information about full time equivalent was collected through questionnaire survey of the researchers involved in various disciplines of wheat research. The research investment has been compared with production share in value-terms using congruency model in the major production domains, such as development regions, eco-zones and environments. The model comparing actual production share with full time equivalent of researchers has revealed a moderately low congruency percentage indicating discrepancies in research investment across production domains. On adjusting the production share with both research progress and equity factors at the same time, the congruency percentage increased in production environments and decreased in ecozones and geographic regions, highlighting the mismatch in research investments. Some policy measures have been suggested to mitigate the mismatch in resource allocations to wheat research in Nepal.