Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative urban farming group (Dewathang, Bhutan)
Dewathang, Bhutan · Operator: サムドゥプ・ジョンカル・イニシアティブ（SJI）。ゾンカク農業部門が技術支援、USAID とブータン財団が資金支援
Overview
An urban farming effort begun in October 2020 in the towns of Samdrup Jongkhar district, south-eastern Bhutan. The local civil-society group Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative leases government and private land to run five urban farms and ten smallholdings where 30 farmers grow vegetables and mustard — 2.5 acres of each. Farmers received green netting, water storage tanks and ten metric tonnes of farmyard manure. The first harvest brought in Nu. 61,200 from 780kg of vegetables and 350 bundles of saag.
Citizen participation
Thirty farmers take part — 17 women and 13 men — 20 in Dewathang and 10 in Samdrup Jongkhar. The arrangement lets town residents without land of their own grow on leased plots.
Operating model
Plots are leased from government and private owners, with some farmer-owned land. Inputs come through USAID and Bhutan Foundation support, and the Dzongkhag Agriculture Sector provides technical backing. The first harvest sold roughly 780kg of vegetables and 350 bundles of saag, worth Nu. 61,200.
Impact
Its most striking effect is imitation: farmers who saw the work planted a further ten acres on their own. In a border area heavily dependent on imported vegetables, it shows a way of using leased town land to build both local supply and cash income. Starting with distributed farmyard manure — soil first — also keeps participants who cannot buy inputs from being left out.
Land tenure
Leased government and private land, with some farmer-owned plots.
Crops
- トウガラシ
- インゲン
- ホウレンソウ
- ブロッコリー
- カリフラワー
- トマト
- タマネギ
- キャベツ
- カラシナ（採油用）
Scale
都市農場5か所と小規模農場10か所。野菜に2.5エーカー、油用のカラシナに2.5エーカーを充てる。触発された周辺の農家が独自に10エーカーを追加で作付けした
In the media（1）
Web articles and features that cover this case.
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