•RNRNewsletter

A bimonthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Vol. VI Issue No. IX www.moaf.gov.bt 16-30 June 2018

INSIDE Farmer groups and

schools join hands for agricultural products

Page 4

The Ministry's Week

Page 6

Thimphu students take part in agriculture programme

School Agriculture Programme

A group of 202 students from Thimphu Throm-de schools have started eight days of students engagement programme in Agriculture from

July 2-9 in Thimphu, coordinated by the School Agricul-ture Programme. This is the second of such programme called Learn and Earn programme for students of urban schools who have very less opportunity to go into the rural villages due to their parents and guardians working in Thimphu being organised. Cont...on Pg 2 Students working on lawn development at Chubachu

16-30 June 20182 RNRNEWSLETTERA bimonthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Cont...from Pg 1

Thimphu students take part in agriculture programme

Farming experience is required as a life skill even to the students of urban schools, not only to the rural students as stated by the Hon’ble Agriculture Lyonpo, Yeshey Dorji during the lunching programme at Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School.

The students wee divided into group based on their choices and deployed with farmers of Kawang gewog, central agencies

like FMCL, Bhutan Agro Indus-tries, National Mushroom Centre, ARDC Yusipang, FALC Dechen-choling, Tashichho Dzong Gar-den Project and forest plantation site at Samarjingkha.

Among many benefits of such programme, dignity of labour and appreciating the work of our farmers to feed the world is one prime purpose, according to the Agriculture

Director, Ms. Kinlay Tshering. Participants were presented on the principles of smart agricul-ture farming system as the part of programme. It will be concluded with feedback and experience sharing by participating students.

The programme is supported financially by the Rural Develop-ment Climate Change Response Project, European Union.

16-30 June 2018 3RNRNEWSLETTERA bimonthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Tips for making E a r t h E v e r y d a y

Plant a TreePlanting a tree can help remove carbon dioxide from the air. Plant trees to stay cool.

Ride a BikeInstead of a car, try to ride a bicycle for a day. Riding a bike is an effective workout to do.

Every drop counts. Water is a precious resource and saving water is important for environment to help increase the amount of useable water.

Conserve Water

Reduce, Reuse, RecycleThese three 'R's have several benefits. Like lessening the greenhouse gas emissions and conserving energy and resources.

Before you go to a grocery shop, check first and consider what you haven't used. Buy what you eat and eat what you buy.

Unplug

Food Waste

Unplugging electronic devices when no one is using them can really save our pocket. When you're going on vacation it is important to check that all electronic devices are unplugged.

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16-30 June 20184 RNRNEWSLETTERA bimonthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Boarding schools provide an important market for agricultural produce.

Though their purchasing capacity is dependent on the government stipend for students which are nominal, nonetheless because of the volume and the consistency of demand, it is an attractive mar-ket option for farmers.

The Department of Agricultur-al Marketing and Cooperatives (DAMC) have been instrumental in creating business relations between the schools and farmer groups particularly in the eastern part of Bhutan though the Re-gional Office in Mongar.

Because of the success and sustainability of such business models, the Market Develop-

Farmer groups and schools join hands for agricultural products

Market Development Division, DAMC

ment Division of DAMC un-dertook similar business linking initiatives in Samtse, Chukha and Thimphu Dzongkhags with the technical support of the Dzongkhag and Geog Adminis-trations and financial assistance

of the Food Security and Agri-culture Productivity Project. A total of 13 schools entered into an agreement for buying produce from 10 farmers’ groups and a cooperative comprising of more than 220 members.

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Please submit your articles for RNR-Newsletter at communication@moaf.gov.bt

7 Things You Should Know

about Farming1. Farming is everything involved with growing plants and animals to be used for something else.

2. Nearly everything we eat, wear and use came from a plant or an ani-mal raised on a farm.

3. Farming is a job, a way to earn money.

4. Farms today are specialised, not like most portrayed in story books.

5. Farming is high-tech.

6. Farmers are smart.

7. Farmers care about the land and water.

Sangay, the farmer, had so many children that he ran out of names. So he started calling his kids after

something around his farm.

It was the first day of school and the teacher asked each child their name. When he got to one of the farmer Sangay's sons, the boy replied, 'Kewa.'

The teacher said, 'I need your real name boy, to which the lad replied, 'It's Kewa, sir....Really.'

The teacher, rather annoyed rejoined, 'All right young man, take yourself right down to the Principal's office this minute.'

The youngster pushed himself out of his chair, turned to his twin sister and said, 'C'mon, Metokopi', he is not going to believe you, either.’

JOKES

When a chick hatches it can live healthily for

up to two days without being given any food or water. This is because it still has nutrients in its stomach from when it was inside the egg.

This is why chicks do not need food or water when they are being moved to the rearing farm.

D i d y o u k n o w ?

16-30 June 20186 RNRNEWSLETTERA bimonthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Consultation meeting on Bhutan for Life initiative

Published by:InformationandCommunicationTechnologyDivision(ICTD)MinistryofAgricultureandForestsPostBox:1095,Thimphu-BhutanTel.(PABX):02-323765/321142Fax:02-324520Email:ictd@moaf.gov.btWebsite:www.moaf.gov.bt

Bhutan joins Seed Sharing Protocol

LOAS certified products launched

The Ministry's week

Bhutan joined the Siem Reap Protocol of Discussions

(PoD) on June 13, with the Hon’ble Agriculture Secretary signing the agreement. The PoD is the regional cooperation among Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka in Seed Sector. The agreement covers rice based crops such as maize,

wheat, vegetables and pulses among others with the possibility to include many more in future. With signing of the agreement, Bhutan can now exchange and import high yielding varieties including inbreed ones with its partners. However, it will not cover movement of genetically modified varieties.

The consultation meeting on ‘‘Bhutan for Life initiative’’

was held in Thimphu from June 18-22 to ensure strong network of protected areas and biological corridors in the country. Around 200 participants from various Dzongkhags attended the meet-ing where they also discussed the coordination gaps and issues in the field offices.

The local organic assurance system (LOAS) certified

products including Turmeric powder from Zhemgang, Bhu-tan Herbal Tea from Bumthang, Bhutan Green Tea from Trongsa and potato, garlic and carrot from Gasa were launched on June 26. The launched products were from farmers group who have regis-tered with the National Organic

Program (NOP) since 2016. They were trained on organic concepts, principles and practices and have committed to ensure the Bhutan Organic Standard. LOAS man-aged by NOP is based on trust which aims to ease the marketing of organic operators and help consumers to identity the organic products.

The initiative was started as an innovative mechanism to en-hance the conservation efforts in the country with the Project for Finance Permanence (PFP) model in 2013 for 14 years. PFP is a funding model that brings private and public investors to fund ambitious, measurable and long-term conservation impacts.