RNRNEWSLETTERA monthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Vol. II Issue No. 2 www.moaf.gov.bt February 2014

Towards Winter Vegetable Self Sufficiency

It seems every year when winter approaches, people complain that there just aren’t as many local fruits and veggies available. Bhutan or rather our farmers until recent years produced winter vegetables at a very small scale, which is not sufficient even for their own family. To supplement the shortage, huge volumes of vegetables are imported from India. The self-sufficiency of vegetable production and consumption in Bhutan stands at 60 % (VPMP) considering the domestic vegetable production status of Agriculture Statistics- 2010 and 2011.

Cabbage cultivation at SamtseWith an objective to increase domestic

vegetable production in winter and reduce

the import India, the Department of Agriculture initiated various development activities in the country. Mass campaign was organized at the Dzongkhags to create

awareness on importance of producing and consuming local vegetables. Variety of incentives both for production and marketing were put in place to encourage large scale cultivations by farmers.

Although the implementation of activities was confronted by lots of challenges such as quality and availability of improved seeds, water scarcity due to extreme drought conditions, crop damage by animals and post harvest damages, the achievements were creditable as

"the achievements were creditable as an income of Nu. 8.04 million was generated against the expenditure of Nu. 6.16 million"

The total production from the four Dzongkhag was 477 MT and generated cash income of Nu. 8.044 million. A total of Nu. 1.650 was generated from sale of cabbages alone

Pg. 4

Over 1430 acres of dry and wetland under wheat and maize production and of which 276 acres are under wheat seed production while 1140 acres are under mustard production

Pg. 5 INSID

E

Cont. on page 2

Tandin Dorji,ICS

February 20142 NEWSLETTERRNRCont. from page 1 :Towards Winter Vegetable Self Sufficiency

Fig 2. Total Expenditure Incured & Cash Income Generated from Sale of Vegetables

Fig.1 Acrage of different Winter Vegetables in Samtse, Sarpang, Dagana and Chukha

Fig 3. Volume of Vegetables Sold and cash Income Generated by Four Dzongkhags

February 2014 3NEWSLETTERRNR

Fig 4. Average Price Fetched by Farmers for their Winter Vegetables (Nu/Kg)

Cont. from page 2 : Towards Winter Vegetable Self Sufficiency

an income of Nu. 8.04 million was generated against the expenditure of Nu. 6.16 million in Sarpang, Samtse, Chukha and Dagana Dzongkhag.

637 acres of land was cultivated with vegetables in Sarpang, Samtse, Chukha and Dagana Dzongkhag.

The total production from the four Dzongkhag was 477 MT and generated cash income of Nu. 8.044 million. A total of Nu. 1.650 was generated from sale of cabbages alone.

In Sarpang Dzongkhag the total production was 168 MT, out of which only 113 MT were sold . The cash income generated was Nu. 2.225 million. In Samtse, Dagana and Chukha Dzongkhag the total vegetable sold

were 110 MT, 113 MT and 141 MT respectively and the cash income generated were 1.50 million, 2.16 million and 2.17 million respectively.

To increase the production of domestic vegetables during winter, some of the activities initiated by the Department are;• Mass awareness campaign

on importance of production and consumption of domestic vegetables,

• Promotion of vegetable cultivation in paddy field as a relay crop to rice,

• Free seeds and seedlings to encourage large scale cultivation,

• Free irrigation equipments such as

pipes, tanks, sprinklers, watering cans to improve water use efficiency,

• Free polyethylene film for construction of low-cost green house which were used for nurseries and off-season production

• Study-tours and trainings to enhance vegetable cultivation skills and knowledge,

• Minimum Support Prices (MSP), to compensate lost incurred by vegetable growers,

• Transportation subsidy to enhance marketing of vegetables from far-flung areas.

February 20144 NEWSLETTERRNRWinter Crop Intensification:

what has been done

“Unlike in the past they can managed to cultivate spring wheat due to free seed and farm machinery services provided by the Government” shared Aum Phub Dem, a 42 year old farmer in Dochukha village has cultivated spring wheat in 2 acres of wetland and Kinley Drup from Guma Gewog who has 1 acre of land for the same.

Aum Thinley Pem from Kazhi Gewog expressed that some of her neighbours in the same village are also encouraged to cultivate spring wheat from next year as her crop is favourably good this year. She said she is happy to receive such support from the Government.

Wheat program was supported through provision of free seed to farmers under regular crop promotional program of the Dzongkhags with additional support from the Department of Agriculture (DoA). The total wheat seed requirement for 2013-2014 season was 52.23 metric tons (MT) of which 41.23 MT was provided seeds of

Sonalika variety and remaining 11 MT were new varieties such as Baj, Agreem and Aditya imported from India.

Over 531 acres of land in Paro, Thimphu, Samdrupjongkhar, Bumthang, Zhemgang and Tsirang are under wheat cultivation and is expected to produce 398 MT this season. 21.23 MT seeds of Sonalika were distributed to the farmers for promotion and cultivation in both dry and wetland.

An area of 500 acres in 12 different Gewogs of Punakha, Wangdue, Dagana and Sarpang have been cultivated and is expected to produce an estimated 375 MT of wheat.

Nine Gewogs of Punakha and Wangdephodrang with an area of 276 acres potential to produce 298 MT of wheat seed have been identified as Seed Production Area to ensure sufficient amount of seeds for 2014-2015 crop season. National Seed Center is monitoring the seed quality at different stages and planning to procure seeds

from farmers for onward distribution.The demand of maize for feed and

brewery industries like Army Welfare Project has been increasing over the years. To tap this into the existing market within the country, winter maize cultivation is also being promoted in Chukha, Dagana, Lhuentse, Mongar, Samdrup Jongkhar, Samtse, Sarpang, Trashigang and Tsirang.

A total of 455 acres of land are under additional cultivation of maize. The varieties of maize constitute Shafangma, Charskharpa and Yangtsipa. Since Bhutan is potential for hybrid maize, 1.25 MT of hybrid maize varieties were also provided to the farmers which is estimated to produce over 213 MT of maize.

A 48 old farmer Kharka Singh Chettri in Sunkosh village, Rangthaling Gewog in Tsirang said that he has over 2 acres of land under maize cultivation and expresses his opinion of cultivating more maize by next season. He also

Penjor, ICS

Winter Wheat cultivation in Zomlingtahng, Punakha

February 2014 5NEWSLETTERRNR

added that farmers in his village will cultivate more cash crops if a motorable road could be constructed as they have to invest more than their income for transportation of their crops to the nearest market.

Similar program on mustard cultivation were also initiated. Currently, an area of 1040 acres in 23 Gewogs of Punakha, Wangdue, Gasa, Dagana, Samdrupjongkhar and Zhemgang Dzongkhags are involved in production of mustard. The seed requirement for the above area was estimated to 4.16 MT which is expected

to produce 321 MT, assuming 300 kgs from one acre. The mustard seed variety was called M27 which is a released and proven variety in the country. Apart from M27, about 5 new commercial varieties of mustard from india were also introduced and being tested for the coming season.

In Kabji Gewog, Dechen Wangmo had 1.2 acres of land under mustard cultivation and she said that she is expecting unusual cash income from the mustard cultivated this season. Ap Draw, a 75 year old farmer in Thedtsho Gewog also informed that he can

managed to cultivate more mustard this season due to free seed supplied by the Government and farm machine support provided considering the labour shortage.

Apart from free seed, DoA also provided farm machinery services wherever possible for the farmers involved in winter crop intensification program and the season ends by April-May 2014 before the main rice crop is transplanted. Farmers across the Dzongkhags and Gewogs concerned expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the Government particularly DoA for supporting them with free seed, farm machinery services and regular monitoring of pest and crop disease management.

The Department of Agriculture (DoA) under MoAF is initiating various programs focused on sustainable agriculture development in the country to fulfil its fundamental responsibility. As part of the winter crop intensification program, DoA promoted both cereal and oil seed production in 2013-2014 season which included commodities such as wheat, maize and mustard. This initiative brought over 1430 acres of dry and wetland under wheat and maize production and of which 276 acres are under wheat seed production while 1140 acres are under mustard production.

Cont. from page 4: Winter Crop Intensification

Mustard cultivation in Kabjisa, Punakha

Maize cultivation in Rangthaling, Tsirang

February 20146 NEWSLETTERRNR

Leisure Sudoku PuzzleFill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommodates the digits 1-9, without repeating any. Answer in the next issue

Establishment of a Medium Scale Feed Mill

Interested national entrepreneurs are invited to re-submit Expression of Interest (EOI) for establishment of a medium scale feed mill (4MT/hr capacity, 20 MT/Day) in Trashigang through Public- Private Partnerships. Detailed terms and conditions can be obtained from office of Project Director, Market Access and Growth Intensification Project (MAGIP), MoAF, Thimphu. EOI should be submitted on or before 28 March, 2014 with required documents including feed milling business licences, Environment clearances, land ownership/lease certificate and detailed business plan and technical feasibility report. Selection will be done by technical committee based on fulfilment of terms and conditions and technical feasibility of site proposed.

For any queries please contact: Project Director, MAGIP 02 333093/333787 Program Director

NCAN 03631481 during office hours.

Limited apple seedlings for sale

The National Seed Centre, Paro would like to inform all concerned that the centre has limited apple seedlings (Royal and Golden Delicious) in stock for sale.

Therefore, interested buyers are requested to visit the centre or contact 08 271462 for more details.

- NSC

Tender: Video Cameras and Editing Sets

Information & Communication Services (ICS), MoAF would like to procure two sets of video camera and two sets of editing sets. Interested firms may collect tender documents from the Procurement Section from 4 March 2014 onwards.

- ICS

THE RNR FAMILY,

WISHES EVERYBODY

A VERY HAPPY

WOOD MALE HORSE YEAR

MAGIPNEWSLETTER

http://asia.ifad.org/web/magip February 2014

A monthly publication of the Market Access & Growth Intensification Project

Non-wood Forest Products: a blessing for Shingkhar Lauri people

Shingkhar Lauri, one of the remotest geog in Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhag with 83% (GPS data, 2010) forest covered areas has a good potential for non-wood forest products (NWFPs) production, which is the main source of income for Lauri people. Highly demanded NWFPs such as medicinal herbs especially, Swertia chirata (chirata), star anise (Lishi) and Rubia cordifolia (Lhaniru) are available in the geog.

In the past, there were no management plan and group in place to harvest the available resources sustainably. But with the support from the Gross National Happiness Commission and the Social Forestry and Extension Division (SFED), there are eight NWFPs groups in the geog today comprising of 423 households which is almost 92.35% of the population. One group is still under the process which will make nine groups in the geog.

Although, there are many species listed in the harvesting guidelines for each group, considering the market demand, only three species (Chirata, Star anise, Rubia cordifolia) are being collected based on interim framework for NWFPs collection. For larger collection and

sustainability of the resources, cattle are kept away from grazing especially during the regeneration of NWFPs.

For groups’ sustainability, twenty-four participants from eight groups were trained on NWFPs book and record keeping comprising of executive and literate members. It helped them in managing the groups, especially the account part of their daily expenditures and income generated from the sale of NWFPs. Training was organised by SNV and SFED with fund support from MAGIP in Jomotsangkha. During the training, the traders were briefed on marketing strategy for three days wherein all NWFP’s traders from across the country took part.

Following this, the training on domestication of chirata and satuwa was also given by SNV and SFED with MAGIP funding, focusing that these species do not get extinct from the wild habitats of Bhutan. The training was recommended as one of the most important key ideas in the farmer’s society of Gomdar and Lauri. Farmers were practically demonstrated on how to domesticate and manage them in the nurseries. Such first kind of training

helped the farmers to know the management ways of raising seeds of the mentioned species. There were total of 10 participants’ from Lauri NWFPs groups.

Currently, almost 92.35% of the people in Lauri have been covered by the management plan for every species of NWFPs. There is a business plan developed by Dr. Subedi from Rukudev Consultancy which was published in 2012 with fund support from MAGIP to support them further.

The first auctioning in Lauri was done in 2011 wherein the entire group took part as far reaching experiment on what would happen in the future prices. During the auctioning, groups agreed to take down the products till road point while buyers were informed on the importance of auctioning and depositing fee of Nu. 1000/- from each buyer. Cross checking of the buyers documents (Licenses), price fixing (Challenging for products) were also carried out.

Facilities such as a concrete store house were built at Zangthi with fund support from UNDP to stock the products before selling. 72 nos. of crates were issued to all the groups for keeping the product with support from the Regional Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives, Mongar. 15 nos. of spring balance are being issued to facilitate easy measuring and 2748 nos. of polymer sacks issued for carrying the product up to road point with fund support from MAGIP. All the groups will be supplied with electrical dryer this year and nursery are being created in the geog with the support from MAGIP.

The group earned Nu. 1350000/- selling Swertia Chirata, Nu. 225000/- from Rubia and Nu. 25000/- from Star anise in the year 2012. The sales of NWFPS have played a significant role in the life of Shingkhar Lauri people helping them to earn a reliable income to improve their living standards.

Dorji Wangdi and Karma Leki, Dzongkhag Forestry Sector, Samdrupjongkhar

Chirata ready to be sold

February 20148 NEWSLETTERRNR

ToIf undelivered please return to:

Information and Communication Services (ICS)Ministry of Agriculture and Forests Post Box: 1095, Thimphu-BhutanTel(PABX): 02-323765/321142/322855Fax: 02-324520Email: ics@moaf.gov.btWebsite: www.moaf.gov.bt

Guideline for Facilitation of Contractual Supply of RNR Products Launched

Tandin Dorji, ICS

10 February, Thimphu: Hon’ble Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji, Minister for Agriculture and Forests launched the ‘Guideline for Facilitation of Contractual Supply of RNR Products by Farmers Groups to Institutes’ in the presence of Mr. Tom Dreksen, Managing Director for Agriculture, SNV and other officials from the Ministry and SNV.

The guideline was published considering the success of farmers groups and their contractual supply of RNR products, so that the approach could be replicated in other areas.

The guideline is a guide to both the educational institutes and farmers groups while signing contract on the supply of RNR products and to guide for production and supply.

The contractual supply of RNR products is a part of the vegetable value chain program in the east, which is a part of the IFAD-funded Market Access and Growth Intensification Project for the six eastern Dzongkhags of Bhutan. Vegetables amounting to Nu. 20.6m was sold in 2013 by 1517 households in 114 Farmers Groups, of which Nu.7.15 m was obtained through contractual supply of RNR products to 31 educational institutes.

This approach is in line with the government’s target to become self-sufficient with this approach locally

produced RNR products will largely replace the cheaper Indian RNR products.

The program of contractual supply initially began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding

between Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture and Forests on 19 April 2012 to pilot supply RNR products to educational institutes by farmers groups.

HE Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji launching the Guideline for Facilitation of Contractual Supply of RNR Products by Farmers Groups to Institutes