Home > Community, News > Farmers’ group to export forest products

Farmers’ group to export forest products

9 November 2009

After diseased mandarin trees stopped fruiting, the farmers of Lhamoizingkha turned to mother nature for cash income. About 139 households in Lhamoizingkha Dungkhag in Dagana Dzongkhag will harvest non-wood forest products (NWFP) and export them to India from this year. The group –Farmers’ Group of Lhamoizingkha – has already explored the market in Siliguri, West Bengal.
According to the group’s business plan, over Nu 1 million worth of forest products will be sold this year. About Nu 700,000 will go to the government as royalty, Nu 130,000 to the group welfare fund, and the rest to the farmers as the payment for their collection.
The group has identified four items for this season – pipla (piper longum), soapnut (spindus mukorossi), broom grass, and bamboo.
This year, the group is hoping to sell broom grass worth Nu 600,000, pipla worth Nu 300,000 and reetha (soap nut) worth Nu 55,000. The chairperson of the group, K R Tamang, said bamboo is abundant both in the forest and private land. Assessment for the bamboo export has, however, not been made.
K R Tamang said the forest is rich with non-wood products that have never been extracted for commercial purposes until now. He said the market for all the available products was explored and found that the four products could be profitable. The farmers have already started harvesting bamboo and pipla. Broom grass and soap nuts will be harvested from December and January, respectively.
The farmers’ group, which comprise members from Deorali and Lhamoizingkha gewogs, was formed last year with support from department of forest and SNV. Each member pays Nu 100 as membership fee. The group has its bank account in Phuentsholing.
The chairperson said that, in the future, Nichula Gewog will be included in the group. Yesterday, when the first annual general meeting of the group was held, officials from SNV, forestry, and the farmers discussed sustainable harvesting, market for the products, transparency in business and bookkeeping, among others.
Farmers said that, although the group’s activities will provide them a business opportunity, the royalty was too high.
They said the government should reduce the royalty percentage for the benefit of the farmers. K R Tamang said since the group is new and almost all the members are illiterate, capacity building is important for the group to sustain.

After diseased mandarin trees stopped fruiting, the farmers of Lhamoizingkha turned to mother nature for cash income. About 139 households in Lhamoizingkha Dungkhag in Dagana Dzongkhag will harvest non-wood forest products (NWFP) and export them to India from this year. The group –Farmers’ Group of Lhamoizingkha – has already explored the market in Siliguri, West Bengal.

According to the group’s business plan, over Nu 1 million worth of forest products will be sold this year. About Nu 700,000 will go to the government as royalty, Nu 130,000 to the group welfare fund, and the rest to the farmers as the payment for their collection.

The group has identified four items for this season – pipla (piper longum), soapnut (spindus mukorossi), broom grass, and bamboo.

This year, the group is hoping to sell broom grass worth Nu 600,000, pipla worth Nu 300,000 and reetha (soap nut) worth Nu 55,000. The chairperson of the group, K R Tamang, said bamboo is abundant both in the forest and private land. Assessment for the bamboo export has, however, not been made.

K R Tamang said the forest is rich with non-wood products that have never been extracted for commercial purposes until now. He said the market for all the available products was explored and found that the four products could be profitable. The farmers have already started harvesting bamboo and pipla. Broom grass and soap nuts will be harvested from December and January, respectively.

The farmers’ group, which comprise members from Deorali and Lhamoizingkha gewogs, was formed last year with support from department of forest and SNV. Each member pays Nu 100 as membership fee. The group has its bank account in Phuentsholing.

The chairperson said that, in the future, Nichula Gewog will be included in the group. Yesterday, when the first annual general meeting of the group was held, officials from SNV, forestry, and the farmers discussed sustainable harvesting, market for the products, transparency in business and bookkeeping, among others.

Farmers said that, although the group’s activities will provide them a business opportunity, the royalty was too high.

They said the government should reduce the royalty percentage for the benefit of the farmers. K R Tamang said since the group is new and almost all the members are illiterate, capacity building is important for the group to sustain.

By Rabi C Dahal

Ratings: 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes | 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
Email this page Email this page     Print this page Print this page    

Posted by Bhutan Observer · Filed Under Community, News 

Comments

4 Responses to “Farmers’ group to export forest products”

  1. Soap Nuts on November 9th, 2009 2:33 am

    I think it’s great that they can find income harvesting the natural resources. We have been using soap nuts as a laundry detergent for a few years now, and would never go back to chemical detergent.

  2. Galay_Rabten on November 9th, 2009 7:14 pm

    Yup, the farmers complain of “royalty” being too high is legitimate. On the otherside, the farmers should cultivate NWFP in a sustinable and responsible manner that they do not damage the nature that feeds them. People living in the southern regions are those, who are succumbing to evangelist due to monetary benefits they receive as they are driven by poverty. It would be unfair on the part of the government to suck humongous royalty from those poor people.

    However, if the process of cultivativation leads to adverse effects on the forest, then it might be technically and morally prudent to raise the royalty.

  3. Amit kmar on December 13th, 2009 5:58 pm

    i m grass broom manufacturer from india and required grass broom from Bhutan, i can buy all the material from farmers, no matter whatever the quantity they have.
    Above article is helpful but still i dont know how to contact the suppliers.
    Please help me to find the suppliers soon because harvesting broom season time already arrived.
    Do mail me soon.

  4. jitendera singh on May 17th, 2010 9:41 am

    i am broom manufacturer from india ,i need to buy large quantity, if you can supply ,pls contact me as eairlest, thanks

Leave your comment





Note: Comments are moderated by Bhutan Observer, and may not appear until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

Bhutan Observer is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache