Bhutan Pledges to be First 100% Organic Nation
The small, Himalayan
kingdom plans to be chemical free within decade
- Common Dreams staff
Published on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 by Common Dreams
Published on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 by Common Dreams
The small nation of
Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayas between China and India, is committed to
becoming the first "hundred percent organic" nation.
Farmers in Bhutan hope to be 100 percent organic in ten years.
Photo by *christopher* via flickrAt the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in
June, Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley announced that his government is developing
a National Organic Policy and a plan to convert 100% of his nation's
agricultural land to organic farms. The policy's goal is to phase out
artificial chemicals in farming over the next 10 years.
"Bhutan has
decided to go for a green economy in light of the tremendous pressure we are
exerting on the planet," Agriculture Minister Pema Gyamtsho told the Agence France-Presse. "If you go for very
intensive agriculture it would imply the use of so many chemicals, which is not
in keeping with our belief in Buddhism, which calls for us to live in harmony
with nature."
The Himilayan kingdom
of 700,000 became a pioneer in 1972 when Bhutan's fourth Dragon King, Jigme
Singye Wangchuck coined the term "Gross National Happiness" and
announced that the nation would measure their success based on well-being and
other Buddhist spiritual values rather than economic measures. This value
rating has been publicly embraced by the
United Nations and other countries worldwide. Other measures Bhutan has taken
to ensure their quality of life include banning television until 1999 and
deterring mass tourism to protect its culture from foreign influence.
According to Gyamtsho,
Bhutan's chemical use is already "very low" by international
standards. Heexplained,
"only farmers in areas that are accessible by roads or have easy transport
have access to chemicals." The majority of farmers are already organic and
rely on rotting leaves or compost as a natural fertilizer. Two-thirds of the
country depend on farming the nation's 7.8 percent arable which is peppered
among the plains in the south and the Himalayan peaks to the north.
The Prime Minister is employing a
step-by-step strategy to going organic: "We have identified crops for
which we can go organic immediately and certain crops for which we will have to
phase out the use of chemicals, for rice in certain valleys for example."
Staple food exports include of wheat, exotic mushrooms, red rice, potatoes and
fruits.
Gyamtsho released a report (pdf)
explaining that the organic program is not just about protecting the
environment. It will also train farmers in new methods that will help them grow
more food and, consequently, move the country closer to self-sufficiency.
Bhutan has sent a number of farmers to India to study at Vanadana Shiva's
organic training farm and has invited consultants from the farm to help educate
locals so they can help other Bhutanese farmers transition to organic.
The Prime Minister had said in his
speech that his goal is for the 'Raised in Bhutan' label to be "synonymous
with 'organically grown.'" In addition to the obvious ecological benefits,
the Bhutan Observer notes that the
hope is for the program is to "pursue organic farming as the finest
recourse to alleviate rural poverty in the country."
There is a growing
market for organic goods in neighboring countries, like India, with a growing
middle class. Nadia Scialabba, global specialist on organic farming at the UN's
Food and Agriculture Organization, told the AFP that this trend is "happening in very
small countries who are not competitive on quantity, but they would like to be
competitive in quality."
No comments:
Post a Comment