In Samdrup Jongkhar, a farmer producing organic vegetable seeds is facing unexpected challenges this year, as the demand for his seeds has plummeted. Despite his efforts to cultivate and nurture organic seeds, the farmer finds himself struggling to sell them in the market. Organic vegetable seeds are free from chemical residues and considered more environmentally friendly and sustainable compared to conventionally produced seeds.
Merchen Gurung in Orong Gewog is one of the farmers in the district producing organic vegetable seeds for commercial purposes.
He ventured into organic vegetable seeds production business in 2016 after attending some training on organic seed production. He used to earn Nu 30,000 in a year from selling seeds.
“I use cattle urine and dung to produce vegetable seeds organically. I produce organic seeds as vegetables produced from organic seeds are healthy. We supply vegetables to schools. During the training, we were told that organic seeds are free from diseases and that encouraged me to start producing organic seeds.”
However, the demand for his seeds drastically decreased within two years. Last year, he earned Nu 7,000 only. And this year, he has not sold any seed.
“This year, I have not sold any seeds. I got some orders last time but they have not come to collect the seeds as of now. Now, the seeds are damaged and I cannot sell them. So, I will feed them to cattle. We have to throw away the seeds when they get damaged. So, I don’t produce as much seed as I used to in the past.”
MC Gurung says the decrease in demand for his seeds is due to a shift in farmers’ preferences toward hybrid seeds and a decline in vegetable cultivation.
According to the Regional Seed Center office in Trashi Yangtse, they are not able to sell seeds since Gewogs and Districts have allocated a limited budget this financial year for crop promotional programs.
The office says it has already informed all the organic seed growers in the eastern region not to produce seeds in huge quantities. Nonetheless, the office is exploring the market by contacting projects and commercial vegetable producers.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Phub Gyem
