The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests is keen on encouraging farmers to adopt the Kambja method of upland rice cultivation that does not need irrigation facilities, the lack of which hindered farmers from cultivating rice for years.
Bhutan is 50% self-reliant on rice production while the rest, it imports. Its target is to increase rice self-sufficiency to 65% over the 11th Five Year Plan (2014-2015). Agriculture specialists believe that adopting the Kambja method will help the country in realizing rice cultivation self-sufficiency.
The farmers in Eastern Bhutan are well acquainted with the Kambja method but over the years, they have shifted to maize cultivation instead of rice. The Rice Research and Development Center is trying to encourage farmers to re-cultivate rice using the Kambja method.
The ministry is freeing up more wet lands for paddy cultivation across the country. It is also renovating and repairing irrigation canals to support paddy cultivation.
Bhutan produced around 78, 014 tons of rice in 2012. The Agriculture Ministry’s target is 90,000 tons by the end of the 11th FYP.