Stories of Change Issue III ( 2019-20)
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Commercial Agriculture and Resilient Livelihoods Enhancement Programme Stories of Change Compilation of Case Stories and Articles Issue III (2019-20) Contents Vegetable Value Chain Development (Page 3) Editors A farmer from Dramang village reaps good returns from early chili ..............................................4 Lhap Dorji, ARDC Wengkhar Youth engagement in mushroom spawn production enterprise ......................................................8 Dorji Wangchuk, OPM CARLEP Farmers move toward local enterprise...........................................................................................11 Lodey Phuntsho, ARDC Wengkhar Post Harvest program enhances the development of farm-based micro-enterprise ...................15 Sonam Gyeltshen, ARDC Wengkhar Onion curing shed- a popular method adopted by Domkhar villagers ..........................................19 Tshiltrim, ARDC Wengkhar Phuntshothang farmers take up winter chili production..................................................................23 Sangay Jamtsho, RAMCO Mongar Business to business linkage: Linking farmers to the market........................................................25 Chhimi Lhamo, OPM CARLEP Sangay Choda, OPM CARLEP Dairy Value Chain Development (Page 28) Compiled By Yangtse dairy group profits through value addition and product diversification.............................29 Chhimi Lhamo Improvement of nutritional value ..................................................................................................32 Orong gewog towards achieving self sufficiency in milk production................................................35 Design and Layout Sangay Choda Climate Resilient Farming (Page 37) Chhimi Lhamo Automated irrigation system: An innovation using open source ICT technology..........................39 Bimkhar villager adopts greenhouse solar dryer..........................................................................44 Awashing farmers benefits from fallow land reversion, irrigation and crop protection facilities......48 Tapping spring water for dryland irrigation....................................................................................51 Photographs contributed by Community seed production group for upland paddy...................................................................54 Respective Author, except for: - Sangay Choda Wangringmo farmers benefit from efficient irrigation....................................................................57 Cover Page,4,12,28,34,38,54,60,70, -Sangay Jamtsho and Tshering Pem 10,40,44,61 Institutional Support: Women, Youth and Lead Farmers (Page 60) Success stories of lead farmers...................................................................................................61 Any article may be reproduced with prior permission from Office of the Programme Management. Integrated agri-enterprise start-ups..............................................................................................70 Copyright reserved @CARLEP2020 Programme Profile Programme Profile Programme Area Programme Title: Commercial Agriculture & Resilient Livelihoods Enhancement Programme (CARLEP) The programme will target selected Gewogs in six eastern Dzongkhags (Lhuentse, Mongar, Pemagatshel, Samdrup Jongkhar, Trashiyangtse and Trashigang) with high Location: Six eastern Dzongkhags (Lhuentse, Mongar, Pema Gatshel, Samdrup production and marketing potential in the selected value chains. The programme will Jongkhar, Trashigang and Trashi Yangtse)(see Maps alongside). benefit 28000 smallholder HHs of which 5000 HHs will directly benefit from vegetable and dairy value chains. Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Agriculture & Forests is the lead implementer with regional agencies such as ARDC Wengkhar, RLDC Kanglung and RAMCO Mongar in the programme dzongkhags. Dzongkhag Administrations of six programme dzongkhags is also a core implementing partner alongside KIL Chenary and SJI samdrup Jongkhar. Goals & Objectives: The overall programme goal is to sustainably increase smallholder farmers’ incomes and reduce rural poverty through climate resilient commercialized production of crops and livestock by programme households linked to nationally organized value chains and marketing systems. The specific objective is to increase returns to smallholder farmers through climate resilient production of crops and livestock in nationally organized value chains and marketing systems. Outputs: 1. Increased production resilience, diversification and innovation 2. Vegetable production intensified and expanded 3. Dairy production intensified and expanded 4. Resilient vegetable and dairy value chains developed 5. Agricultural commercialization and enterprise development strengthened 6. Community driven strategic market infrastructure developed 7. Strengthened value chain and marketing knowledge and communication 8. Climate change resilience and value chain lessons mainstreamed in agricultural policies and sector strategies Components: Component 1: Market-led Sustainable Agricultural Production Component 2: Value Chain Development and Marketing Component 3: Institutional Support and Policy Development Component 4: Programme Management, Coordination and Monitoring & Evaluation 1 2 Vegetable Value Chain hili is largely consumed as ‘a to take up farming as a reliable source must’ ingredient in Bhutanese of income-generation. The farming diet. Almost all the Bhutanese business that he started as a mere A Farmer from Cdishes contains chili in various forms. opportunity for bringing in some Hence there is a huge demand for money has now turned into a passion. chill round the year. Despite the huge He began his journey with early chili demand throughout the year, most of cultivation which he says is marketable Dramang Village the farmers and plans to only opt for grow more summer chili “A Taxi driver ventures on his land. cultivation and To start up Reaps Good very few opt the chili for winter chili into cultivation, cultivation Sonam due to various early chili production” received Returns from reason. For seeds and people who other inputs does not such as grow chili in polytunnel a particular season, obtaining chili is plastics and other necessary materials Early Chili a challenging task. Therefore, the from the Dzongkhag agriculture shortage of supply during the winter is sector and Agriculture Research often met through import from across and Development Centre (ARDC) the border, which are often ladened Wengkhar, with fund support from Farming with chemicals beyond the permissible CARLEP-IFAD. limit. Sonam developed the fallow Nim Dem, EA Shongphu A case of a driver turned land and grew chili on his 0.45 farmer acres of land, located at 900 Sonam Tobgay, 38, meter above mean sea level. served as a taxi driver In August 2018, he for many years, engrossed his yet he was time in nursery financially raising of hybrid challenged for chili variety and meeting his began transplantation of the expenditure. Therefore, in seedling in October 2018. In February 2018, Sonam left his driving profession 2019, he produced 550 kg chili from his and went back to his village, Dramang first harvest, out of which, 400 kg were under Shongphu gewog, Trashigang 5 6 Youth Engagement sold at Nu.100 per kg. He earned Nu. 40,000 from his first harvest. Though it in Mushroom was an early chili production initiated for the first time in the Geog, he reaped fairly good benefits from his maiden Spawn effort. The produces were mostly sold Sonam Tobgay working in his field to Rangjung Central School, Rangjung Vocational Technical Institute(VTI) and Production Rangjung Market. With the success in his maiden effort, Sonam plans to continue early chili Enterprise production along with the cultivation of other vegetables like cole crops and onion in the following seasons. Nonetheless, he is immensely contented with the income earned from early chili production initiated on his family land which was left fallow land for a few Sonam is now a model farmer who is Tshering Dorji 1, Thinley Gyeltshen 2 and Cheten Wangchuk 3 years. among the first to benefit from early chili production in the gewog. He is open to line with the increasing actual intensification of the mushroom sharing his experience with the fellow demand for mushroom spawn cultivation in the region. Over a course farmers who want to go for early chili In and promoting mushroom of time, Oyster mushroom production cultivation. cultivation in the region, the Mushroom has increased by almost 36% in FY At present, Sonam has become an Spawn Production Unit (MSPU) at 2018-19. exemplary person in his region and Khangma, Trashigang was established Considering the potential of the crop and many farmers in his locality look up to in 2015 under the ARDC Wengkhar and its suitability in the region, the MSPU at following his path. With his success, was technically linked to the National Khangma has started targeting farmers, neighbors express their interest to go Mushroom Centre, Wangchutaba. To schools and institutions both at a small for commercial early chili production date, the unit produces 9,000 bottles scale as well as commercial-scale to help reduce the import of chili in the of Shiitake and 4000 bottles of Oyster production. Since 2016, the unit has country. mushroom spawn on average in a inoculated about 122,000 oak billets year, with fund supports from various with Shiitake mushroom covering 237 sources particularly CARLEP-IFAD growers and, about 27, 000 bags with since FY 2016-17. CARLEP–IFAD