Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an indispensable commodity, mainly cultivated by high-altitude mountain households, that sustains and supports the livelihood of an overwhelming 51% of the Bhutanese population. The popularity of potato cultivation among Bhutanese farmers can be attributed to the crop’s adaptability to a wide range of agroclimatic conditions such as a rainfed crop, high productivity, an assured market, and a reliable source of income for the farming families. We hypothesize that the changing climate would make the livelihood associated with potato cultivation in Bhutan more vulnerable. We tested this hypothesis to identify the sources of vulnerability of smallholder farming households using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and LVI-IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) approaches in six potato growing districts of Bhutan: Bumthang, Chukha, Gasa, Mongar, Tashigang, and Wangdue. Primary data were generated through a semi structured sample survey of 240 households on the seven major livelihood components of sociodemographic profiles, livelihood strategies, social networks, health, food, water, natural disasters, and climate variability. The results showed that the LVI (range 0.302 to 0.375) and LVI-IPCC (range −0.005 to 0.030) differed significantly (p < 0.001) across the districts. The districts of Tashigang and Mongar were less vulnerable than the other four districts by the LVI approach, whereas Bumthang was also revealed to be less vulnerable using the LVI-IPCC approach. The degree of vulnerability in a district differed according to their level of exposure and adaptive capacity to the climate change impacts of the potato farming household. The results are expected to serve as empirical evidence for designing a future course of actions to mitigate the negative impacts.
This study was conducted in two gewogs (blocks) of Jarey and Thangrong under Lhuentse and Mongar districts in Eastern Bhutan to assess the farmer’s perception on the soil erosion, its causes, and adoption of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices. A total of 47 and 90 respondents from Jarey and Thangrong respectively who participated in the implementation of SLM measures were interviewed. Field observations were made where necessary. Data was analyzed using descriptive and chi-square test at significance level of p<0.05 and presented in tabular or graphical representations. The study revealed that farmers have a good knowledge on identifying the indicators, causes, severity of soil erosion including positive impact from implementation of SLM measures. A significantly high proportion of farmers in Jarey (97.87%) and Thangrong (92.22%) perceived washing down of soil during rainy season as main indicator of soil erosion. Similarly, significant proportion of the respondents (95.74% and 93.33%) from two gewogs indicated heavy rain as main cause of soil erosion besides cultivation on the steep slope (91.49% and 90%). Further, 76% and 56% of the respondents in Jarey and Thangrong respectively perceived high soil erosion, whereas only 15.89% and 15.56% have witnessed low rate of soil erosion. Significantly higher proportion of respondents in Jarey (85.11%) and Thangrong (90%) observed reduced soil erosion after implementing the SLM measures. About 29.79% of farmers in Jarey faced labor shortage while 38.89% of farmers in Thangrong perceived no immediate benefit from SLM measures. High proportion of farmers in Jarey (96.25%) indicated the need of financial support from government and 95.64% of respondents in Thangrong expressed the financial and short-term interventions (seed and seedlings) assistance for scaling out SLM in future. This study recommends community consultation through participatory approach to raise awareness and design appropriate SLM interventions based on local context and also taking into account incentive package to address short term livelihood needs of the farmers, which otherwise is difficult to achieve due to long gestation period of SLM interventions.
Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are the major issues in tomato production in Bhutan. The National Centre of Organic Agriculture, Yusipang, introduced 40 open-pollinated entries between 2020 and 2021. With an objective to evaluate and select the most desired tomato varieties for commercial cultivation in Bhutan, seven tomato entries were prescreened and selected using combined scoring of the total votes from the Participatory Varietal Selection and yield of entries in 2021. The Randomized Block Design with eight entry treatments and three replications with Ratan as standard check was employed to evaluate their yield and yield parameters; fruit quality; and tolerance to pests and diseases in 2022. ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test for mean separation was employed at p-value at P<0.05. The result showed that AVTO1954 produced a significantly higher yield (29.8 tons/acre) compared to AVTO1910 but not significantly different from AVTO1702 (28.5 tons/acre) and AVTO1907 (28.4tons /acre). Although Roma (check) produced the highest total number of fruits per plant (110), it produced the lowest number of marketable fruits per plant (7) compared to all other entries, while the plant height did not show any statistically significant differences between different treatment entries. Two entries with the lowest disease incidence were AVTO1702 and AVTO1954, while Roma was infested with blight and powdery mildew at 27% and 45% respectively. The study recommends the release of three entries viz-a-viz AVTO1954, AVTO1907 and AVTO1702 and similar research in other agroecological zones of Bhutan to identify appropriate varieties in their zones.
The effect of different irrigation intervals and manure rates on agronomic parameters of dill were evaluated under three agro-ecological zones of Bhutan: ARDC-Bajo located at 1200 m asl, ARDC–Wengkhar at 1,700 m asl, and NCOA–Yusipang at 2700 m asl. The split-plot design arranged in randomized complete blocks with three replications was employed. The four levels of irrigation interval (control, every 3 days, every 7 days, and every 14 days) were allotted to main plots and four levels of manure (Control, 4 tons/acre, 8 tons/acre and 12 tons/acre) were allocated to subplots. The results showed that dill can be successfully grown in all agro-ecological zones under study. Fresh yield obtained at ARDC-Wengkhar (1.92 tons/acre) was significantly higher compared to that at NCOA-Yusipang (0.52 tons/acre) but not significant to that at ARDC-Bajo (1.41 tons/acre). Interaction of irrigation interval and manure rate significantly influenced plant height (P=0.02) and stem diameter (P=0.03) at NCOA–Yusipang, and stem per plant (P=0.02) at ARDC-Wengkhar. The irrigation interval of 3 days produced significantly better results except for the fresh to dry weight ratio at NCOA-Yusipang. Irrigation interval of 7 days yielded better results at ARDC-Bajo and ARDC-Wengkhar except for FDR at ARDC-Wengkhar. The increase in irrigation interval beyond 7 days resulted in 62% and 25% lower fresh yields at ARDC-Bajo and NCOA-Yusipang respectively. In contrast, irrigation at 3 days interval at ARDC–Wengkhar decreased the yield by 55% compared to 7 days interval. The manure treatments did not influence any of the parameters assessed at all sites. However, MR 8 tons/acre at NCOA–Yusipang, MR Control at ARDC-Wengkhar and MR 12 tons/acre at ARDC-Bajo yielded higher fresh yields compared to other manure treatments. We recommend the combined application of IR 7 days x MR 12 tons/acre, IR 7 days x MR 4 tons/acre, and IR 3 days x 8 tons/acre at ARDC–Bajo, ARDC-Wengkhar and NCOA–Yusipang respectively. Further, this research provides a reference guide for agricultural extensionists during promotional, advocacy and capacity development programs.
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