Why is Bhutan forced to import rice?

Abdel Nasser Al Shaali

Aj.alshaali@gmail.com

October 03, 2022

On a visit to Bhutan for the purpose of tourism, I was stopped by the rice fields stretching as far as the eye can see, especially those that were planted on the edges of the hills to form a number of terraces gradual from the smallest to the largest at the point where the beginning of the plateau is equal to the surface of the earth.

What is astonishing about this agricultural masterpiece, is that the purpose of the terraces is to fill the first and overflow to fill the second, the third, the fourth, and so on until the last field at the bottom of the hill, where the rice is grown in such a way that it requires that the entire field be covered with water.

The goal of adopting such an agricultural system is to take advantage of rainwater, as well as water that comes from the tops of the mountains and is on its way to settle at the bottom of the earth, as groundwater that is extracted and used at a later time during periods of drought and lack of rain, for example.

The beholder of this huge number of terraces extending from one city to another in Bhutan, whose population does not exceed one million, will think that the latter has enough to cover its need of rice and overflow to include its rice exports to the rest of the world.

However, the reality is quite the opposite, knowing that rice is grown in Bhutan twice a year, and more than 10 varieties of rice are grown in Bhutan.

Bhutan is in fact a rice-importing country, and the reason for this is that farmers who grow rice in Bhutan do so to cover their current need for consumption and store the rest for another time, so the rice that is sold in the market to those who depend on the cultivation of commodities other than rice or professions is scarce. other than agriculture for their livelihood.

As a result, the government in Bhutan is importing rice from other countries to cover these needs.

And the fact that Bhutan is closed without a sea port and surrounded by two countries inhabiting nearly three billion people, with no airline entering its airspace and landing at its airports except for two airlines affiliated with the Kingdom;

The issue of importing rice from other countries may not be as easy as it was before the “Covid-19” crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and the resulting drop in agricultural production levels, in addition to problems related to food supply chains.

So, in the future, Bhutan cannot rely on importing rice due to its geographical situation, which will have to diversify over time to diversify the sources of importing rice from other countries, and bear high costs for shipping this commodity, by land or air, because shipping from other neighboring countries may or may not have a surplus. Of this basic commodity, which is one of the least basic commodities that are traded in the world.

It is noteworthy that Bhutan does not lack water resources to grow a commodity that requires a lot of water, such as rice;

Therefore, the food security of the Kingdom will not be achieved in the long term without adopting a special strategy that enables its residents to continuously produce rice even while they engage in other businesses, knowing that Bhutan has the potentials to grow rice, which makes it one of the exporters of this commodity.

Economist specializing in food security

@aj_alshaali

Aj.alshaali@gmail.com

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Aj.alshaali@gmail.com