The Hon’ble Agriculture Secretary and the Agriculture Director launched the Journal

Bhutanese journal of agriculture launched

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests launched the first volume of the Bhutanese Journal of Agriculture on March 8th. It is dedicated to the 38th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty The King.

The journal provides a platform for researchers to share their findings to wider audience. It is expected to motivate Bhutanese researchers and field colleagues to develop a habit of scientific writing and contribute to knowledge management. It will also serve as a coherent mechanism for sharing appropriate agriculture technologies and knowledge with clients.

The first edition of the journal includes articles on food crop agronomy, variety evaluation and development, propagation methods in fruit plants, participatory vulnerability assessment and economic analysis of crop production as well as processing among others.

Two papers on the potential impact of climate change on horticultural production and rice crop suitability model under the future climate scenario makes for interesting reading.

Aeroponics, a relatively new technique in Bhutan is successfully demonstrated to produce potato mini-tubers. Likewise, community based seed production of maize; introduced only in recent years has helped farmers in the east to improve their livelihood through enhanced quality of seed, bigger harvest and thus additional income.

Phenotypic characterisation and diversity studies on banana and common beans reflect another dimension of crop breeding and variety development. Besides, the journal contains a social science paper on the evaluation of a JICA-implemented horticulture project in eastern Bhutan highlighting how it helped farmers to boost their happiness level.

The journal is published by the Agriculture Research and Extension Division of the Department of Agriculture and will be now an annual feature. It will be also made available online in future.

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