The production of pions emitted backward in inelastic neutrino-nucleus interactions is analyzed within the impulse approximation in the framework of the dual parton model. We focus on the $Q^2$-dependence of the multiplicity of negative pions, normalized to the total cross section of the reaction $\nu + A \to \mu + X$. The inclusion of planar (one-Reggeon exchange) and cylindrical (one-Pomeron exchange) graphs leads to a multiplicity that decreases as $Q^2$ increases, in agreement with recent measurements carried out at CERN by the NOMAD collaboration. A realistic treatment of the high momentum tail of the nucleon distribution in a nucleus also allows for a satisfactory description of the semi-inclusive spectrum of backward pions.
