The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, famed for seeking"happiness" for its citizens, is aiming to become the first nation inthe world to turn its home-grown food and farmers 100 percent organic. Itsdevelopment model measuring "Gross National Happiness" instead ofGross Domestic Product (GDP) has been discussed at the United Nations and hasbeen publicly backed by leaders from Britain and France, among others. Itbanned television until 1999, keeps out mass tourism to shield its culture fromforeign influence, and most recently set up a weekly "pedestrians'day" on Tuesdays that sees cars banned from town centres.
Its determination to chart a different path can be seen inits new policy to phase out artificial chemicals in farming in the next 10years, making its staple foods of wheat and potatoes, as well as its fruits,100 percent organic. "Bhutan has decided to go for a green economy inlight of the tremendous pressure we are exerting on the planet,"Agriculture Minister Pema Gyamtsho said. Bhutan has a population of just over700,000, two-thirds of whom depend on farming in villages dotted around fertilesouthern plains near India and the soaring Himalayan peaks and deep valleys tothe north. Overwhelmingly forested, no more than three percent of the country'sland area is used for growing crops, says Gyamtsho, with the majority offarmers already organic and reliant on rotting leaves or compost as a naturalfertiliser.
"We have developed a strategy that is step-by-step. Wecannot go organic overnight," Gyamtsho said. "We have identifiedcrops for which we can go organic immediately and certain crops for which wewill have to phase out the use of chemicals, for rice in certain valleys forexample."
Bhutan's only competitor for the first "100 percentorganic" title is the tiny self-governing island of Niue in the SouthPacific, which has a population of only 1,300. It aims to reach its objectiveby 2015-2020. The global organics market was estimated to be worth 44.5 billioneuros in 2010, according to figures from the Research Institute of OrganicAgriculture and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. Bhutansends rare mushrooms to Japan, vegetables to upmarket hotels in Thailand, itshighly-prized apples to India and elsewhere, as well as red rice to the UnitedStates. Bhutan's organic policy would start to give the country a reputation ofhigh quality organic food which in the long-run would give them a marketadvantage and the possibility of price premiums. Jurmi Dorji, a member of the103-strong Daga Shingdrey Pshogpa farmers' association in southern Bhutan, sayshis fellow members are in favour of the policy. "More than a decade ago,people realised that the chemicals were not good for farming. I cannot say everyonehas stopped using chemicals but almost 90 percent have."
