The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In the crisp mountain air of Bumthang, where the hills turn gold with ripened barley and the wind carries the scent of pine, every apple blossom still whispers a story, of a King who believed that Bhutan’s prosperity must begin in the soil.
In the 1970s, as His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck began shaping Bhutan’s path toward modern development, he placed the greatest importance on rural progress and agricultural self-reliance. Nearly 80 percent of Bhutanese people then depended on farming, and His Majesty saw that the country’s true strength lay in the hands of its farmers.
During his early reign, His Majesty encouraged the diversification of agriculture, moving beyond subsistence crops toward horticulture and high-value produce. Among his many rural development visions was the introduction and expansion of apple cultivation in Bumthang, a district with the right altitude and cool climate ideal for the crop.
With royal guidance, the government’s horticulture programs began distributing apple saplings to Bumthang farmers, supported by agricultural extension services and training. The initiative aligned with His Majesty’s broader push for self-reliance and balanced development, central to Bhutan’s Fourth and Fifth Five-Year Plans. Farmers were taught how to graft, prune, and care for apple trees, skills that were new to many but quickly embraced.
What began as a small experiment soon blossomed into one of the most successful agricultural ventures in Bhutan’s history. By the 1980s, apple orchards had spread across Chhoekhor, Tang, and Chhume. Families that once relied solely on buckwheat and barley began earning income from selling apples locally and later to other dzongkhags. The transformation was visible not just in fields, but in livelihoods.
80-year-old Ap Namgay from Chhoekhor still remembers those early years with pride. “When His Majesty said apples would grow in our cold land, we didn’t believe him,” he recalls with a smile. “But when the first trees bore fruit, we saw he was right. The King gave us confidence in our own soil.”
Aum Lhamo, 74, from Tang, shares a similar memory. “Before apples, we lived season to season, with little to sell,” she says. “After we planted trees, buyers began coming to Bumthang. We could save money, send children to school, and dream beyond farming. It was a new life.”
His Majesty’s vision for agriculture was never about profit alone. It was about dignity, sustainability, and the connection between people and nature. He often reminded officials that progress should not come at the cost of Bhutan’s environment and insisted that agricultural development must go hand in hand with forest conservation and soil protection.
As Bumthang’s apples flourished, His Majesty encouraged similar horticulture initiatives in Paro, Haa, and Thimphu, turning what began as a local experiment into a national success. Over time, apples became one of Bhutan’s key cash crops and even found their way into export markets, a quiet but powerful symbol of rural transformation under his reign.
Today, decades later, the legacy endures. The apple orchards that line the valleys of Bumthang still trace their roots to that royal vision of the 1970s. They stand as living monuments to His Majesty’s wisdom, a reminder that real development grows not from wealth, but from resilience and self-reliance.
As Bhutan marks His Majesty’s 70 Birth Anniversary, the people of Bumthang continue to look upon their orchards with gratitude. In every pink blossom that opens with spring and every crate of apples that leaves the valley in autumn, there is the enduring imprint of a Monarch who led with foresight and humility.
His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck did more than plant trees, he planted belief. And that belief still blooms, year after year, in the heart of Bhutan’s highlands.
