Country Status Reports on Agricultural Biotechnology by Wangda Dukpa, DOA, Bhutan

1. Country Status Report on Agricultural Biotechnology
BHUTAN
Wangda Dukpa
Chief Agriculture Officer
Agriculture Research and Extension Division
Department of Agriculture
LAND OF HAPPINESS

2. Background
•Bhutan is located between China in the north and India in the south
•Total land area of 38,394 KM2 , 7.8% cultivable and 2.93% under
cultivation
•Total population of 770,000
•Development programs guided by the principles of Gross National
Happiness
•GDP per capita: US $ 2,879.07
•GDP growth rate : 7.99%
•Value of GDP in USD : US $ 2,058.37 million
•Value of Agriculture GDP in USD: US $ 207.98 million
•Agriculture GDP in per cent of GDP: 10.10 %
•Total investment in Agriculture Research : US $3.812 million
•Total investment in Agricultural Biotechnology Research : No data

3. National Policies
No policy on agricultural biotechnology
Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) Research policy of Bhutan 2011
National Framework for Organic Farming in Bhutan (NFOFB) 2006
1. Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) Research policy of Bhutan 2011
Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) Sector includes Agriculture, Forestry and
Livestock. The RNR research in Bhutan encompasses four generally accepted
categories of scientific research: basic, adaptive, applied and policy research with
focus on adaptive and applied research.
The RNR research policy of Bhutan is guided by the four pillars of Gross National
Happiness (GNH);
GNH Pillar 1: Sustainable and Equitable Socio-Economic Development
GNH Pillar 2: Environmental Conservation and Sustainability
GNH Pillar 3: Good Governance
GNH Pillar 4: Cultural Preservation and Promotion

4. National Policies Contd.
RNR research policy of Bhutan has 2 policy goals and number of policy objectives
under each goal;
Policy Goal 1: A prioritized programme of high quality and relevant research
undertaken for Bhutan’s RNR sector
Policy Goal 2: An efficient and effective RNR research system that produces high
quality research results and facilitates their use in the plans and programmes of
Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF).
2. National Framework for Organic Farming in Bhutan (NFOFB) 2006
The vision of Organic Farming is to develop and promote organic farming as a way of
life among Bhutanese farmers and trade in organic food items, to enhance nutrition,
health and farm household income, and to become a net exporter of organic
agricultural products.

5. A three pronged strategic approach will be adopted to cover potential development
areas.
• Focus on food security, nutrition, food diversity and income generation
• Harnessing the natural potential, environmental conditions and resource
management, and branding and marketing
• High value low volume crops
Implementation of Policies
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forests
• Planning and Policy Division
• Department of Agriculture
• Agriculture Research and Development Centres
• National Plant Protection Centre
• National Soil Service Centre
• National Postharvest Centre
• National Seed Centre
• Department of Agriculture and Marketing Cooperatives
• Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority
• Agriculture Extension Officers
National Policies Contd.

6. Capacity Development
• Over 800 staff under DoA
• <100 Research Officers
• Develop and retain critical mass
of researchers specialized in
various fields
National Policies Contd.

7. Department of Agriculture
Agriculture Production Division
Horticulture Section
Field Crops Section
School Agriculture
Program
NPPC, NSSC, NMC,
NPHC & NSC
Agriculture Research & Extension
Division
Field Crops Research
Program
Horticulture Research
Program
Extension Program
RDC OA-Yusipang,
ARDC-Bajo, Bhur &
Wengkhar
Agriculture Engineering
Division
Irrigation Section
Farm Mechanization
Section
Building Section
Farm Road Section
CMU & AMC
Information Management Unit Land Conversion Unit
District Agriculture Sector & Block Agriculture Sector
Partnership
National Policies Contd.

8. Funding Mechanism
• Royal Government of
Bhutan
-Ministry of Finance allocates
budget based on Five Year Plan
and annual plan
• Projects
National Policies Contd.

9. National strategies for R & D in various areas of agricultural biotechnology
Agricultural biotechnology in Bhutan especially for agriculture (crop) sector includes
tissue culture, bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides and EM technology
National and institutional strategies
ARDC Yusipang
• Coordinate research on bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides in collaboration with
Other ARDCs, National Plant Protection Centre and National Soil Service Centre
• To establish bio-fertilizer manufacturing plant
National Soil Service Centre
• Coordinate promotion of EM technology in collaboration with School Agriculture
Program, ARDCs and Asia Pacific Natural Agriculture Network (APNAN).
National Seed Centre
Tissue culture activity started in 1984 by the national seed program
Fruit crops, ornamental plants, orchids and potato
Main focus on banana, potato, kiwi, avocado and apple
Rapid multiplication and to produce disease free planting materials
Propose for tissue culture facilities in ARDCs

10. National and institutional strategies Contd.
Capacity Development
• Training for laboratory officers and laboratory technicians on testing the quality of
the bio-inputs in accordance to the national standards
• Train BAFRA officials for organic certification
• Producers of bio-inputs have to be trained on the whole value chain from
production to handling, storage, packaging and labelling of the products
• Preparation of EM mother solution and EMAS (EM activated solution)
• Tissue culture technology
Infrastructure Development
• Expand tissue culture facility of NSC
• Establish tissue culture facility in ARDCs
• Strengthen Microbiology laboratory of NSSC
• Establish EM plant in all ARDCs and expand the existing facilities
• Establish bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticides manufacturing plants
• Establish/strengthen laboratory facilities for testing the quality of bio-fertilizers
and bio-pesticides

11. National and institutional strategies Contd.
Policy advocacy
• RNR Research policy 2011 provides guidance on the overall RNR
research in Bhutan. Strategic Action Plan for Organic Agriculture
Development in Bhutan (2011),
• Master Plan for Organic Sector Development (Draft, 2012)
• National Organic Standard of Bhutan (Draft)
• Bhutan Organic Certification System (2013)
• Guidelines for the import and distribution of bio-
pesticides/fertilizers (2015); Biosafety Rules and Regulations of
Bhutan (2018) and a National Logo for marketing organic products in
Bhutan.

12. Priorities areas of agricultural biotechnology
Bioprospecting
• Document traditional knowledge on
treating different diseases using local
plant materials
• Collaborate with NBC on in situ
conservation and maintenance of
traditional medicinal plants
Low-tech biotechnology
• Strengthening tissue culture facilities for
research and propagation of planting
materials
• Expansion of EM program
• Establishment of bio-inputs plants and
making quality bio-inputs available to the
farmers

13. Major challenges and opportunities
Challenges
Limited financial resources
Limited technical capacity
Inadequate infrastructure
Opportunities
Favourable policies in place
Clean environment
Huge potential of improving the capacity of seed program
Establishing bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides manufacturing plants
Expansion of EM program
Aligning EM to mainstream agricultural production

14. Future Outlook
Short-term
Make available bio-inputs in adequate quantity
Create awareness on organic agriculture for both producers and consumers
Putting in place the necessary measures for incentivising organic agriculture
production and also incentivising the private sector to start producing organic inputs
in-country.
Strengthen capacity (technical and infrastructure) on tissue culture and EM
Medium and long-term
Capacitating extension systems to respond to organic agriculture needs
Bio-inputs testing laboratory facilities in place equipped with required laboratory
officers.
Strengthen the laboratory and human resources capacity for bioprospecting program
Initiate collaborative activity on bioprospecting between ARDCs under Department of
Agriculture and NBC

15. Tashi Delek, Thank you