Farmers from the six eastern Dzongkhags will export vegetables to the traders of Assam, India during summer beginning this year, when it is off-season in the neighbouring town. This was discussed during a meeting in Samdrup Jongkhar yesterday for cross-border vegetable export.
The meeting between the Indian traders and Bhutanese stakeholders saw discussion on various issues and formalities for Bhutanese vegetable export. The meeting continued for the second day today to find the best way out for both the counterparts.
The Indian traders said that the Bhutanese farmers need to go for quality and standard for fetching better price. They said they want vegetables with standard specification for their market. For instance 6-8 pieces of carrot should make one kilogramme, and should have 1-2 inches of leaves and should be cleaned and dry before packaging.
This, the Bhutanese officials said, can be met gradually with more awareness and training.
There are more than 1,000 households in the six Dzongkhags who are formed into clusters to produce vegetables for traders from Indian state of Assam.
The two day meeting also saw discussions and presentations of marketing, packaging, meeting quality and standards for the Indian consumers.
It was organised by the Regional Agriculture Marketing and Cooperatives Office in Monggar.
