Bhutan is one of the smallest and peaceful country with an
agrarian economy where most population residing in the remote countryside.
Being a mountainous country, our total arable land is limited for crop
production still the developmental philosophy of our country is Gross National
Happiness and conservation of environment is one of the pillars.
The land topography of Eastern Bhutan is more of steep
terrain compared to Western side which hinders agriculture mechanization due to
expensive investment and large scale commercial farming as well. It has been
one of the main constraints in implementation of agriculture technologies and
also for farmers to optimize crop yield.
However farmers have been practicing subsistence farming, a
predominant traditional farming in the region where farmers cultivate crops
with utilization of locally available seeds without introducing any hybrid
seeds that helped in preservation of traditional seeds and maintenance of local
seed gene bank as well. For the field preparation farmers apply farm yard
manures for soil fertility and good aeration of the soil and application of
chemical fertilizers is minimum due high cost of production. Thus maintaining
soil fertility is indispensable for crop improvement and productivity. In view
of this, organic farming or integrated farming is being promoted as sustainable
form of agriculture farming in Bhutan through good cultural cultivation
practices.
With the rise in population, increasing food production is
fundamental to have food security. The commercial vegetable production has been
initiated by the Department of Agriculture for farmers in order to minimize the
import of vegetables and to assist farmers in income generation for their
livelihood. In these regard available water sources have been protected by the
community by fencing the water sources and plantation programs have been
initiated so as to have continues flow of water for irrigating crops and
drinking purposes. It has contributed to sustainable land and water management
aspects.
In addition our farmers have been practicing land and water
management activities with the support from Agriculture adviser and for
sustainable land management intervention on sloppy terrain, fodder grasses have
been planted following A-frame layout and stone bunding activities are taken up
to avoid soil erosion and leaching of the soil especially during rainy season.
Some of our farmers has planted mixed fruits on the slopes and inter-crop
vegetables within the fruit frees for consumption as well as to avoid leaching
of the soil which contributed to land management.
In general flat lands have been considered outstanding for
farm mechanization and ease in taking up agronomic cultivation practices
however rural farmers can’t modify the land fragmentation especially steep
slopes due to high investment. Still our farmers practice mixed farming rearing
animals and cultivating soil for the livelihood and maintain good soil
fertility by applying cow dung, chicken manures, farm yard manures and compost
and avoids application of chemical fertilizers due to chemical harmful effects
that hardens the soil. So maintaining soil fertility in the farm is crucial in
order to have food security in the country as good yield will be obtained from
the fertile soil.
The Bhutanese farming system mainly organic farming and the
good agronomic practices by the farmers has increased crop yields and
contributed to sustainable land and water management in the country.
