I am Jewan Rai, a young farmer from Southern Bhutan. Right after the completion of my Diploma in Agriculture, I have been working on my own integrated organic farm named Go Green Organic. I also initiated a farmer group called Go Green Farmers Group which focuses on our youth. I would like to share my thoughts and the challenges I faced as a young farmer.
I have struggled so much in the processing of government lease land to start my organic commercial farm. The process is lengthy that’s why the youth are discouraged to get into agriculture-related work or enterprises. I would like your concerned department to look into this matter.
To go organic is very difficult as we must share some portion of our produce to the ecosystem by default, like potatoes to red ants and cauliflowers to caterpillars. To solve this, we need support and recommendations from our government. We have been seeing the world promote healthy food on social media, but the reality is no one is willing to pay a fair price for organic products. Organic farmers need to be linked with organic markets formally.
And one of the major challenges of farmers across the world is the difficulties in handling perishable produce. Farmers suffer a great loss when their products are not sold immediately. We look forward to seeing the entire world come up with affordable cold storage technologies.
I was devastated when my crops were destroyed by the hailstorm last winter. I wish our country also has a system of crop insurance.
Bhutan has been suffering from food insecurity, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have witnessed a shortage of agricultural produce and exceptional price hikes. This is the right time we prioritize agriculture and support our young farmers. It is very important to educate our generation about the importance of agriculture and food security. If not, we might hear our children claiming that the food grows in grocery stores. Our machineries do not produce food. Our farmers are more important. If we don’t protect our farmers today, the world will suffer from hunger worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jewan Rai
Bhutan
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