Vol. I Issue No.

NEWSLETTER

A monthly publication of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests

www.moaf.gov.bt
August 2013

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

INSIDE

RNR

Mushroom in Bhutan
NMC

Chanterelle mushroom
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

community level, as the market demand

for mushrooms are growing exponentially
on a yearly basis. However, in order to

"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"
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
Cont. on page 2

RNR

August 2013

Cont. from page 1 : Mushroom

NEWSLETTER

in Bhutan

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

Top Right: Farmers selling mushroom

Top Left: Oyster Mushroom
Bottom: Mushroom on sale

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.

RNR

NEWSLETTER

Call 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 2013

RNR

August 2013

NEWSLETTER

Cheering 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 (panfried 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

Top: Matsutake in the wild

Bottom Right: Tourist at the sale stall
Bottom: Matsutake on display and Farmers group sale counter

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

RNR
Cont. from page 4 : Cheering

NEWSLETTER

August 2013

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 display
Middle: Matsutake
Bottom: Matsutake being roasted

August 2013

e
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u
s
i
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RNR

NEWSLETTER

Sudoku Puzzle
Fill 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.

Facts about
Cooperatives in Bhutan
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.
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.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING
ADVISORY
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

MAGIP

NEWSLETTER

A monthly publication of the Market Access & Growth Intensification Project

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

August 2013

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

Auction yard at Samdrupjongkhar

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.

RNR

August 2013

NEWSLETTER

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 buyers 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

The RAMCO is planning to connect all
buy vegetables only from the agreed list boarding schools and other institutes in
of farmers coordinated by the focal
the east with farmers group by end of
persons.
2013.
Drawing contractual agreements on
The process of linking farmers groups
supply of vegetables has mutual benefit
to the local institutes for supplying
to both farmers and schools as schools
agricultural products in the east had
get fresh vegetables and farmers can
started in the late 1990s. However, due
save on transport and transaction cost
to lack of an enabling environment such
compared to other markets. In fact the
as the Co-operative Act, it could not
limited requirement of vegetables by the progress. Although the Cooperatives Act
schools matches the lower production
was passed in 2001, farmers group
capacity of our farmers at the moment.
registration was not covered by the Act.
The process of drawing up the
With the amendment of the
contractual agreement was facilitated by Cooperatives Act in 2009 and framing
the Regional Agricultural Marketing
of the Cooperative Rules and
Cooperatives (RAMCO), SNV and
Regulations in 2010 (CRR 2010), an
respective Geog Administrations under
enabling environment for farmers
the MAGIP framework.
group registration was successful.
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 Contractual Agreement signing in the presence of
the past through suppliers. Kanglung Gup

If undelivered please return to:

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

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