International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 18-30 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 19 healthy food and non-food agricultural products, while taking into account economic, social, and environmental sustainability (FAO, 2016). However, most of the farmers are unaware and fall behind in the adoption of this practice. European Union has rejected Nepalese food products (Singh, 2007) during trade, and also poor certification of products and faulty practices of cultivation have induced such a situation. The Nepal government formulated GAP implementation Directives to meet the increasing demand for food safety and certification of products (MoAD, 2018). The NEPAL GAP scheme enlisted five modules under GAP; Food safety, quality, environment management, workers' health, welfare, and general farm requirements (MoAD, 2015). GAP seems to have high potential to increase crop yield by up to 36%, reduce agrochemicals use by 31%, increase SOM from a mean of 3.32%-3.77%, and increase farmers' income by more than 100% (Kharel et al., 2022). Almost a gross worth of Rs. 1 billion was obtained by farmers from Mandarin cultivation in Syangja in the year 2023. The production trend however seems declining due to the lack of proper orchard management and recommended practices (https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/35381). Despite being the major production hub for Mandarin, the issues of poor practices in orchard maintenance confront farmers. The wide use of chemical fertilizers in fruits like mandarin is making them unsafe to consume and has welcomed a threat to producers as well as consumers in Nepal. Any agricultural technology or practice to be adopted requires adequate awareness but different conditions may affect adoption and awareness (Bernier et al., 2015). In this context, no previous study was done to appraise the awareness and adoption of GAP in Syangja. The study examined the existing scenario of GAP awareness and adoption in Mandarin which guides as an instructive document to the different authorities in further execution and improvement of the mentioned standards under Nepal GAP. Syangja district holds good potential prospects for the successful cultivation of Mandarin due to its characteristic topography and suitable climatic conditions. The majority of the farmers in rural areas of Syangja solely depend on Mandarin production for the economy and running livelihood. However, the production still inclines below the optimum range due to a lack of technical assistance and know-how in orchard management. Poor orchard management practices are the major cause of citrus decline in Nepal (Prasad and Chandra, 2019). Wide use of chemical fertilizers has led to poor markets, insecure food safety, and different security hazards on fruit. The high volume of produced mandarin fetches low prices in the market. Despite having high potential, the fruit quality stands as the main hindrance during export to distant markets and abroad. Moreover, the disease and pest severity have been a significant issue for many growers of the region. The poor acquaintance of good agriculture practices (GAP) and farmers' alignment with the traditional approach for production without any standards of inputs and required protocols is prevailing as a major drawback in Mandarin cultivation. To assess the awareness and adoption level of (GAP) good agricultural practices in Mandarin in Syangja, Nepal. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: To know the awareness status of good agriculture practices among Mandarin farmers; To examine the GAP standards adopted by farmers in relevance to the Nepal GAP Scheme, 2020 (DFTQC) in Mandarin; To identify the major pests, diseases, and constraints involved in Mandarin production. Mandarin growers apply large amounts of pesticides for pest management, which not only has reduced the quality but also induced climate-related hazards. The faulty agricultural practices including uncertified sapling, excess chemical use, inappropriate pruning practices, and mishandling during harvesting and transportation have further declined the quality of the fruit. Mandarin production relies on increasing the area of cultivation, utilizing available resources properly, and adopting production-hastening orchard management technology (Dahal et al., 2019). The adoption of best management practices aids in minimizing the yield gap in any crop (Assefa et al., 2021). Awareness and implementation of good agricultural practices can be an added factor to it. However, farmers were compelled to fetch low yields and low prices for the mandarin due to the less authenticity in quality and standards of the produce. This research will thus help to figure out the extent of good agricultural practices, adopted category, and neglected standards of GAP, which will lay a groundwork for superzone and other government authorities to prioritize the
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