Chapter 24: Organic Farming in Bhutan

Bhutan, a small Kingdom in the Eastern Himalayas, is one of the least developed countries with a per capita GDP of Nu. 41443.3 million (US$ 1042) in 2006 (National Statistical Bureau, 2007). However, there is almost no sign of absolute poverty that is typical in most LDC such as malnutrition, urban slums and inaccessibility of safe drinking water. This is mainly because of the prevalence of a subsistence economy in rural areas where 79% of the population still lives. Despite of fact that agriculture is the mainstay of the rural population, only about 7.8% of the land cover is arable. The area used for agriculture is 261,776 acres, out of which 43% is dry land, 21% is wetland, 27% shifting cultivation, 8% orchards, and 1% kitchen gardens (RNR Statistics, 2000, 2002). Although the contribution of agriculture to GDP declined from 55% in 1985 to 33% in 2003, owing to the major influence on GDP growth rate brought about by the ongoing construction of large hydropower projects, the Bhutanese economy is still dominated by agriculture. Most agricultural landholdings are small, marginal and fragmented with about 56% of households owning 1.0 to 4.99 acres of farmland (RNR Statistics, 2000, 2002). In addition farming is labour intensive because of the mountainous terrain. The landscape rises from an altitude of 150m to over 7500m above sea level, giving rise to a diverse flora and fauna.