Agriculture contributes on an average one third to total Gross Domestic Product. It is the major source of employment for the majority of people in Nepal. Productivity of vegetables is in increasing trends after 1991/92 up to 2015/16 but fruits productivity is in decreasing trend after 2009/10. Summer fruits share above 62% of total fruit area and production while terai region share more than third fourth of total summer fruits both in area and production. Mango and banana are the most dominant summer fruits in terms of area and production. Citrus fruit share about 22% of total fruit area and production while hilly region is dominant in terms of citrus growing area and production. Mandarin types of citrus occupy around two third of total citrus growing area and production. Winter fruits share 15.5% and 13% of total fruit area and production respectively. Hills and mountain region share 99.2% of total winter fruits production. More than half of the total winter fruits area and production is share by apple and pear.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating fungal disease of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum). Several genetic loci were previously identified that control FHB resistance in wheat, including Fhb1. Fhb7, a major QTL conferring resistance to FHB, controlling for mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) production, has been introgressed into soft red winter wheat (SRWW). As an exotic QTL, Fhb7 is associated with linkage drag, affecting agronomic and end-use quality performance. This study outlines a breeding strategy for introducing and pyramiding Fhb7 into SRWW breeding populations that already possessed Fhb1 and harbored some additional disease-resistance genes. In addition to the Fhb1-Fhb7 pyramiding, we developed gene-based markers for both genes and examined them on 57 SRWW breeding lines. Our data showed that 15 out of 57 breeding lines possessed both Fhb1 and Fhb7 resistant alleles. Two years of phenotypic data from the inoculated and misted irrigation field showed that the combination of Fhb1-Fhb7 lowers mycotoxin DON accumulation in kernels, which provides protection for end-users and the milling industry. The Fhb gene-pyramided lines, with the additional regionally important disease resistance genes, produced in this breeding pipeline showed reasonable agronomic traits and can be used in crossing programs for the widespread introgression in elite wheat cultivars.