The people of Wangphu Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar say that sustainable land management practices have benefitted them. It has helped in effectively utilising about 300 acres of vulnerable land, while at the same time increasing the production of cash crops.
Around 277 households in Wangphu practice sustainable land management(SLM) methods. They have made terraces, orchard basins, hedgerow, and constructed stone bonding.
With most of the arable land in the gewog on steep slopes, surface erosion was most extensive until the National Soil Service Center initiated a sustainable land management program in 2016.
“Before, it used to take us two to three days to prepare our lands for vegetable cultivation. Now, it is a matter of just a day. Even the production is better after we initiated the SLM. From 2 to 3 sacks of vegetables, our harvest has increased to 7 to 8 sacks,” Thinley Dorji said.
“The land management practices have helped us retain our topsoil. We have to save our lands for our children so that they can use it too,” Chuki Dema said.
Following the success of the programme, this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification and Degradation was also observed in Wangphu on June 17 with the theme “Let’s grow the future together”
“Many of our younger generations want to settle in urban areas even if they are jobless. It is the responsibility of the parents to manage the arable lands in the villages and make it fertile so that when they return they can work on it and earn a living,” Karma Dema Dorji, the Program Director of National Soil Service Centre, said.
Bhutan started observing the World Day to Combat Desertification and Degradation from 2008. The day is marked to create awareness on the adverse effects of desertification, land degradation and climate change.
As of today, the agriculture and forests ministry has managed to bring more than 25 thousand acres of vulnerable dry land under sustainable land management practice.
