Phurpa Lhamo | Wangdue

Five years ago, Tashi Bidha was the only resident in Lull village in Kazhi gewog, Wangdue.

Today, being a model organic village in the dzongkhag, Lull village has launched about 10 certified organic products—spring onions, garlic scape, wheat flour, buckwheat flour, cauliflower, cabbage, coriander, dried red chilli, potatoes, and various seeds.

The products were launched in Lull on February 25.

A farmer in Lull, Dodo, said that, a few years ago, without a road connection and electricity, farmers from the village had moved out to nearby villages and got into sharecropping.

Dodo lived in Lengkhipji until he returned in 2013 on a request from former tshogpa Phub Dorji.

Phub Dorji proposed connecting the village with a road.  Six households contributed over Nu 500,000 to build an 8.8km road from the nearest village, Sill.

In 2017, the village took up organic farming and was certified as a model organic village in 2020.

During this journey, the village received funding support from GEF LDCF through the National Organic Programme.

“It was tough in the past, even starting organic farming. But now we do earn an income from it,” Dodo said.

At the launching ceremony, organic certified rice from Kinley Wangmo’s farm in Chimakha, Paro was also introduced.

Kinley Wangmo began organic farming in 2005 on her seven-acre land.  Kinley Wangmo’s farm is supposedly the first organic farm in Bhutan.

Kinley Wangmo grows asparagus, beans, apples and cereals.

While Kinley Wangmo and farmers from Lull pledged to continue organic farming, they said that poor road connectivity and pests were some of the major issues facing the farmers.

“People don’t understand that the products are organic. And we fetch the same price as any other products,” Kinley Wangmo said.

Officials from the department of agriculture, Agriculture Research and Development Centre in Wangdue, dzongkhag agriculture officials, and National Centre for Organic Agriculture in Yusipang also attended the launching ceremony.