RNRNEWSLETTERA monthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

Vol. I Issue No. 2 www.moaf.gov.bt August 2013

Mushroom in Bhutan

Be it cultivated or wild, the collection of these non-wood forest products has been an integral part of livelihood for the Bhutanese population. Mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic plants are an important source of income for the farmers of Bhutan. It has been identified as an important commodity that contributes to the income generation, food security and biodiversity conservation in the country.

Under Bhutanese context mushroom production (both cultivation and wild collection) and marketing has become one very important activity, generating both income and employment mainly at the

NMC

Chanterelle mushroom

community level, as the market demand for mushrooms are growing exponentially on a yearly basis. However, in order to

keep in pace with the growing demand for quality spawn and technical services, there is need for the development of

infrastructure and human capacity at the program level. Promotion of cultivation and production of mushroom has a comparative advantage over other crops under the context of limited land holdings of pro-poor population in the country.

Collection of wild edible mushroom during the season has been a common activity and it is gaining popularity across the country, expanding altitude range of 300 to over 3000masl. From time immemorial wild edible mushrooms have been collected and consumed. In

"Promotion of cultivation and production

of mushroom has a comparative advantage over other crops under

the context of limited land holdings of pro-poor population in the

country"

The factors which influence the marketing of our products are the price of the commodity, the quantity and quality of mushroom that can be supplied from Bhutan

Pg. 2

Matsutake or Sangay Shamu grows at an altitude of over 3000 meters making Ura in Bumthang one of its home in the kingdom

Pg. 4 INSID

E

Cont. on page 2

August 20132 NEWSLETTERRNR

certain communities in high altitude areas (Geney, Ura, Laya as examples) the contribution from mushroom on the annual income varies from 50% to 70% thereby contributing to poverty

alleviation and mitigating rural urban migration. But at the same time, wild mushroom poisonings also occur very often in the country. Collectors, especially the new and young ones

could pick poisonous mushrooms which look like the edible ones by mistake. Often young children collect mushroom. The mushrooms collected are either being consumed at home or sold in the market or at the roadside. Some of the very popular wild edible mushrooms include: Matsutake mushroom, Chanterelle, Shimeji spp., Rozites, Shiitake spp., Oyster spp., Auricularia spp., Trimella spp. and Ramaria spp.

Mushroom absorbs many or any substance from the substrate. If the area where the mushroom grows has been sprayed with pesticide or other chemicals even edible mushrooms can become poisonous. Industrial dumping areas are another danger zone. Even cultivated mushrooms can be dangerous if they are grown on contaminated substrate. Heavy metal contaminations are quite possible in mushroom.

At present, the demand for mushroom is much higher than the production, especially for shiitake mushroom which is sold at a high price. Matsutake mushroom is presently exported to Japan, Korea, and in some South Asian countries but the demand has not been steady in the past years. The factors which influence the marketing of our products are the price of the commodity, the quantity and quality of mushroom that can be supplied from Bhutan.

Cont. from page 1 : Mushroom in Bhutan

Top Right: Farmers selling mushroomTop Left: Oyster MushroomBottom: Mushroom on sale

August 2013 3NEWSLETTERRNRCall for submission of articles for

annual RNR-Magazine

This is to inform that ICS is in the process of bringing out the 4th issue of the RNR-Magazine (Sanam Drupdrey) which will be published in January 2014.

Therefore, all are kindly requested to send your articles on success stories, breakthroughs, cultivation tips or any write-up related to the RNR Sector to ics@moaf.gov.bt on or before 21 October 2013.

Please note the following points:

• Report/article should not consist of more than four pages

• Relevant picture should be attached separately (JPEG format) with a maximum resolution as possible

• Proper credit for writer/contributor with designation and office should be mentioned

For any query, please contact Ms. Tshering Doma, ICS at 323765/321142.

ICS

August 20134 NEWSLETTERRNRCheering for Matsutake

ICS

In an initiative to alleviate poverty and increase rural income and also promote eco-tourism, cultural tourism and community based tourism, hundreds of locals from Bumthang and also from around the country gather at Ura to take part in the annual Matsutake festival. The annual Matsutake festival is also an attempt to showcase the native mushrooms and other local products and their link to the livelihoods of the local community.

Various stalls set by local community members serves as a variety of foods and drinks, besides other local handicraft products for sale to guests and visitors. Dishes unique to Bumthang like putta (buckwheat noodles) and khuley (pan-fried bread) are on sale from different stalls. But of all, as the festival was dedicated to Matsutake, almost every dish served has Matsutake as an ingredient.

First initiated in 2008 by Thrumshingla National Park, in close collaboration with the Ura Mushroom Conservation

and Tourism Association (UMCTA) is celebrated every year. However, the festival could not be organised in 2009 and 2010 due to some logistic and budgetary constraints.

The 2013 Matsutake festival was held in August, The Chief Guest, Director General of the Department of Forests and Park Services in his address said that Ura has an abundance and high diversity of mushrooms including many edible and high valued ones which could be

Cont. on page 5

Top: Matsutake in the wildBottom Right: Tourist at the sale stallBottom: Matsutake on display and Farmers group sale counter

August 2013 5NEWSLETTERRNRCont. from page 4 : Cheering for Matsutake

conserved through sustainable harvesting for the benefit of future generations. He added that Thrumshingla National Park has an immense potential for tourism given its location amidst the historical routes and alpine landscapes, abundant with rich floral and faunal diversity. He also highlighted that the lateral highway

passing right though the area is an advantage for accessibility; yet, the overall tourism potential has not been tapped well.

Matsutake or Sangay Shamu grows at an altitude of over 3000 meters making Ura in Bumthang one of its home in the kingdom. Uraps need to walk for few hours to the forest to collect Sangay Shamu. It grows in clusters at the base of pine trees. It is collected once in a year. The harvesting season is in the month of July till mid of September. There are about 100 species of mushroom identified in Ura of which 50 species are edible.

While collectors have been trained on sustainable harvesting methods, untrained collectors from other areas harvest the ones which have been left behind by the trained pickers to grow.

Despite limited staff at the Thrumshingla National Park, vigilance is on the increase to ensure sustainable harvesting. Top: Mushroom on displayMiddle: MatsutakeBottom: Matsutake being roasted

August 20136 NEWSLETTERRNR

Facts about Cooperatives in Bhutan

Leisure Sudoku PuzzleFill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommodates the digits 1-9, without repeating any.

1 In which year was the first Cooperative Act of Bhutan enacted?

Ans:The first Cooperative Act of Bhutan was enacted in 2001 as the “Cooperative Act of Bhutan 2001” (CAB, 2001)

2 When was the Cooperative Act of Bhutan , 2001 (CAB 2001) amended?

Ans:The CAB, 2001 was amended in 2009 as the “Cooperative (amendment) Act of Bhutan 2009”.

3 When was the cooperative movement in Bhutan officially launched?

Ans:The cooperative movement in Bhutan was officially launched in Oct, 2010

4 Who is the Cooperative registrar of Bhutan?Ans:Mr. Dorji Dhradhul, Director of DAMC is the Cooperative

Registrar of Bhutan.

5 Who is the Cooperative Registrar at Gewog level?Ans:The Gewog Administrative Officer is also the Gewog

Cooperative Registrar

6 Who is the Cooperative Registrar at the Dzongkhag Level?Ans:The Dzongkhag Planing Officer is also the Dzongkhag

Cooperative Registrar

7 What is the minimum member required to form Cooperative?

Ans:The formation of cooperative requires a minimum 15 members from different household.

8 What is the minimum member required to form farmers group?

Ans:The formation of farmers group requires a minimum of three members from different household.

9 Which Ministry is mandated to implement the Cooperative (amendment) Act of Bhutan, 2009 (CAB, 2009)?

Ans:The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests.

10 When is the International Day of Cooperative celebrated?Ans:The First Saturday of July each year is celebrated as the

International Day of Cooperatives.

This is to inform all our esteemed stakeholders that at the “Apple Export Co-ordination Meeting” organized by the Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA) on the 22nd of July 2013 at Peling Hotel in Phuentsholing wherein the Department of Agriculture Marketing & Cooperatives (DAMC) participated; one of the major issue raised was on the sale of early apples in the Indian borders which is reported to be negatively affecting the price of apples both at the early stage as well as at the time of export.

Therefore, in the interest of all the apple orchard owners/sellers and exporters DAMC would like to most humbly request that the respective District Agriculture Officers (DoA), Apple Orchard owners, apple sellers to kindly inform/educate and create awareness amongst relevant stakeholders to refrain from such unhealthy practices of early harvesting and selling.

DAMC would like to inform that such practice does not contribute to fetching premium price in the market; the main reason being that the fruits would not have reached their full maturity at that stage and is therefore not able to demand a good price. The early sale of apple sets a lower price of the commodity which consequently results in the export of apples not fetching premium prices at the time of export. Thus, the early harvesting and selling neither fetches good price for the early products nor helps in fetching premium price for the later products.

For the information of all, the early apple harvested are sold in the Indian border towns and the later apples exported are to Bangladesh.

(For Royal & Red apple variety the appropriate time of harvest is only after mid-August)

Submitted by: DAMC,MoAF

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ADVISORY

MAGIPNEWSLETTER

http://asia.ifad.org/web/magip August 2013

A monthly publication of the Market Access & Growth Intensification Project

Support benefits Orange Marketing Group Sangay Jamtsho and Bhim Raj Gurung, RAMCO

Pemagatshel: Orange cultivation in Dungmin geog under Pemagatshel Dzongkhag was practiced since time immemorial. The geog which is officially two days walk from road point is considered as one of the remotest geogs where farmers own a substantial land for orange cultivation with good records of orange production. On an average, farmers have 40-50 orange trees per household.

Considering its potential to produce oranges for income generation, a group of 52 farmers/households was formed in 2009, mainly to generate income from marketing of surplus oranges and to provide job opportunities to school drop outs. The technical assistance for the group formation was provided by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Agriculture Marketing and Enterprise Promotion Program (AMEPP) and geog/Dzongkhag administration. The group has been registered as formal farmers group under the Cooperatives Act (amendment) of Bhutan 2009 in 2012.

For proper functioning, the members underwent the group formation and management training such as orchard

layout and soil management from Dzongkhag and RNR-RDC Wengkhar among others.

During the season, one of the main problems, the group used to face was the high transportation cost. The oranges had to carry on horseback for two days till the nearest road point and were then loaded into trucks taking another day to reach auction yard at Samdrup Jongkhar. The group was able to sell only around 30% of their produce due to high transportation cost. To optimise the sale of oranges, the Regional Agricultural Marketing and Cooperative Office (RAMCO) discussed with the Dzongkhag Agriculture Sector and SNV to provide Nu. 50,000 as initial fund support to transport oranges to the market which was approved also.

With such support, the geog orange production has been increasing steadily over the past few years despite few members withdrawing from the group membership. In 2012, the group has sold about 42 MT of oranges at auction yard and earned income of Nu. 8,97,750\-(Eight Hundred Ninety Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty).

Today after reforming the group in 2012, there are 22 active members with Nu. 1, 70, 000\- as group savings to be used as a transportation budget in the coming season and also during emergency.

Further, the group has been greatly benefited by the Pemagatshel-Nganglam highway which passes through Dungmin geog. The cost of transportation though high at present has benefited farmers to take larger volume of oranges at a shorter time. The farmers can now reach their orange within a day to auction yard.

The success of Dungmin Orange Marketing Group can further be replicated to Vegetable Value Chain Programme East (VVCP-E) implemented in the 6 eastern Dzongkhags under Market Access and Growth Intensification Project (MAGIP). The farmers groups under the VVCP-E also had similar problem in marketing their vegetables. As the group was new with no initial capital, it was difficult for them to take their vegetables on time.

Similar fund support will be required by the vegetable groups to make the programme sustainable in future. Such support is expected to improve the right marketing of vegetables enhancing income while also making the VVCP-E sustainable and improving the farmers’ living standard. Auction yard at Samdrupjongkhar

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ToIf undelivered please return to:

Information and Communication Services (ICS)Ministry of Agriculture and Forests Post Box: 1095, Thimphu-BhutanTel(PABX): 02-323765/321142/322855Fax: 02-324520Email: ics@moaf.gov.btWebsite: www.moaf.gov.bt

Schools and farmers join hands together to supply vegetables

Binay Lama, SNV

With the objective of buying vegetables locally from farmers close to schools on a weekly basis and to scale up this model nationally in all the schools, if found feasible, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 19th April 2012 between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to pilot Gyelpoishing Higher Secondary School (HSS) and Jakar HSS under Mongar and Bumthang Dzongkhags respectively.

As per MoU, the supply of vegetable shall be coordinated by the Mess In-charge from the buyer’s side, who will, firstly find out the types of vegetables available from the seller and then place order one week in advance to the focal persons of the groups. Based on the demand, the focal persons shall coordinate among their group and supply not more or less than the demanded quantity. The MoU also states that products should not be pest infested, fibrous or rotten and the buyer reserves the right to reject vegetables if failed to meet the quality requirement. Te seller shall grow different types of vegetables to provide buyers options to demand different types of vegetables. Seller shall ensure that only locally grown vegetables are supplied except in the months of February and March during which they are allowed to import

vegetables from India. The buyer shall buy vegetables only from the agreed list of farmers coordinated by the focal persons.

Drawing contractual agreements on supply of vegetables has mutual benefit to both farmers and schools as schools get fresh vegetables and farmers can save on transport and transaction cost compared to other markets. In fact the limited requirement of vegetables by the schools matches the lower production capacity of our farmers at the moment. The process of drawing up the contractual agreement was facilitated by the Regional Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives (RAMCO), SNV and respective Geog Administrations under the MAGIP framework.

As of now, 25 institutes in the east are connected with farmers groups. They are consuming a total of 57,539 kgs per month or 575,390 kgs per academic year which translates to Nu.9,496,158 per annum. This amount can be seen in 2 different ways: income to our farmers or rupee saving through vegetable import substitution as most schools imported vegetables from India in the past through suppliers.

Contractual Agreement signing in the presence of Kanglung Gup

The RAMCO is planning to connect all boarding schools and other institutes in the east with farmers group by end of 2013.

The process of linking farmers groups to the local institutes for supplying agricultural products in the east had started in the late 1990s. However, due to lack of an enabling environment such as the Co-operative Act, it could not progress. Although the Cooperatives Act was passed in 2001, farmers’ group registration was not covered by the Act. With the amendment of the Cooperatives Act in 2009 and framing of the Cooperative Rules and Regulations in 2010 (CRR 2010), an enabling environment for farmers’ group registration was successful.