The Inception Workshop for the Phase II Pilot Project on Integrated Straw Management took place in Dharan, Nepal, on 13-14 December. Over 80 representatives attended, including pilot team members, policymakers, researchers, representatives of farmers' cooperatives, and private sector stakeholders.
 
The workshop was officially opened by the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and by Mr. Jawed Alam, Associate Professor & Principal Investigator, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Purwanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University. The opening session included a review of the best practices and technologies from the Phase I pilot project, and the commitment of both parties to the project's continued success was reaffirmed.
  
In the following session, an overview of the CSAM Regional Initiative on Integrated Straw Management was provided. Presentations were made on mechanization-based solutions for the integrated management of crop residues in China and India, as well as a study on integrated crop residue management in Nepal.   

       
During the discussion session, representatives from the pilot sites of both Phase I and Phase II, local farmers, the local Agriculture Knowledge Centre, the Provincial Authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Research Center, and the Nepal Agriculture Machinery Entrepreneurs' Association (NAMEA) shared their perspectives on the issue of crop residue burning in Nepal and the pilot project. They also offered valuable suggestions for the successful implementation of the Phase II pilot project.

     
The Inception Workshop was closed by Mr. Jagannath Tiwari, Acting Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and Mr. Kaji Ram Karki, Campus Chief of Purwanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University. 
 
   
As part of the Inception Workshop, the team visited both the Phase I and Phase II pilot sites respectively located at Krishna Dana Udyag (KDU), and Sagun Agriculture Cooperative Society Ltd, where they had the opportunity to inspect the related machinery and practices being implemented.

CSAM’s regional initiative on integrated straw management started in 2018 to address the commonly shared issue of straw burning in the region via mechanization solutions. Phase I of the project on integrated straw management in Cambodia, Indonesia and Nepal was funded by the China-ESCAP Cooperation Programme from 2021 to 2023. The Phase II Pilot Project in Cambodia, Indonesia and Nepal is funded by the 2030 Agenda Sub-Fund of the United Nations Peace and Development Fund under the project titled "Strengthening Mechanization-Based Solutions for Climate-Smart Crop Residue Management in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Nepal" from 2024 to 2028. This regional initiative, which also includes research and pilot projects in China and Viet Nam, was recognized by the United Nations South-South Cooperation Office as one of the best practices in South-South and triangular cooperation in 2022. Building on the positive outcomes of this regional initiative, discussions have begun to launch new pilot projects in Thailand and Lao PDR in 2025.