Bhutan, with support from the United Nations Development Program, has begun agriculture projects to increase winter vegetable production and also creating green jobs to boost the government’s food security initiatives.

The program will include 381 beneficiaries, many among those who were laid off from various sectors recently due to Covid-19.  

Under the project, the pre-production works like land management, setting up greenhouses, and electric fencing has been completed; farms were ready for cultivation. Farms in Trongsa district and Dagana are already under cultivation while those in Tsirang would commence their cultivation this winter, reported Kuensel.

A joint press release from the ministry and the UNDP said the project supported Bhutan’s recovering efforts in line with UNDP’s Covid-19 2.0 program priorities.

The beneficiaries have been trained on the installation of the greenhouse, nursery preparation, potting, transplantation, training of tomatoes cultivation under a protective structure. It will also involve developing water storage ponds. 

The project outputs will focus on sustainable and smart vegetable farming, improving post-harvest market access, and reskilling and upskilling of youth for jobs in the agriculture sector.

In the first output area, the project has procured, distributed, and installed micro-irrigation. 

 (SAM)