LocationsThe center, a first of its kind, will offer online auction services and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for washing, drying, grading, sorting and packaging potatoes.
Gangtey’s new potato trade facilitation center to transform potato trading
July 25, 2024
Inauguration ceremony of the new Potato Trade Facilitation Center in Gangtey, Wagduephodrang
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
23rd July 2024, Gangtey, Wangdue Phodrang — Golley, 79, from Gangtey in Wangdue Phodrang district grew potatoes and sold them to earn a living all his life so far. While growing this cash crop was not a challenge, selling them was. Golley has to take his potato harvests to the border towns, mainly Phuentsholing for auction, which is a day’s journey from Gangtey.
Golley, 79, has been a potato farmer in Gangtey for the past 45 years
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
Once at the auction yard in Phuentsholing, there is no guarantee that Golley can sell his produce the next day. It is also almost next to impossible to sell at a price he wants. Sometimes he had to wait for over two weeks to make a sale. On several occasions, Golley found himself returning home with unsold potatoes.
The iconic Gangtey monastery and the village perched on a hill.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
Golley's struggle is shared by other potato farmers in Gangtey and Phobjikha, and many other potato growing districts. However, the struggles are now set to become a thing of the past with the opening of the new Potato Trade Facilitation Center for Gangtey and Phobjikha communities. The center, a first of its kind, established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) and the Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL), will transform the country’s potato trading.
The new facilitation center was launched by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Resident Representative of UNDP, Member of the Parliament and the religious head of the district.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
Supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries’ Fund (GEF-LDCF) and UNDP together with FAO, the center offers online auction system. This means the farmers can trade their potato harvests in Gangtey where the center is located. They no longer have to undertake long journeys to the Phuntsholing auction yard, saving both time and travel costs, which at times exceeded Nu.100,000. The online auctionwill streamline transactions by facilitating efficient management of bidding, pricing and payments, offering significant benefits to both farmers and buyers.
The inauguration ceremony of the new Potato Trade Facilitation Center.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
In addition, the center is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for washing, drying, grading, sorting and packaging of potatoes. This will ensure potatoes meet growing export standards. It will help reduce post-harvest losses significantly and lead to increased sales.
The center is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for washing, drying, grading, sorting, packaging of potatoes and online auction services.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
Phobjikha and Gangtey are major producers of the crop in Bhutan with around 1,500 acres under potato cultivation, accounting for 53% of Wangdue Phodrang district’s potato acreage and 17% of the total national potato acreage. Together, they produce 12,000 metric tons of potatoes yearly, which makes up 67% of Wangdue Phodrang’s total potato production and 37% of the total national production.
Farmers from Gangtey harvesting their potatoes.
UNDP Bhutan / Lhendup Tharchen
Approximately 90% of the crop produced by more than 1000 farmers is exported through auctions at Phuntsholing, making farmers heavily reliant on this method for marketing their cash crop. The total income from potato farming in Phobjikha and Gangtey amounts to Nu.133 million, representing 29% of the national potato export value.
The 12,000 metric tons of potatoes produced in Phobjikha and Gangtey can generate BTN 180 million. With an investment of about BTN 75 million so far, a single season's potato harvest could recoup the investment.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
Inaugurating the center on 23 July, the minister for agriculture and livestock, Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho said that in light of increasing marketing challenges, including fluctuating international market conditions, new trade regulations, standardization requirements, import restrictions, and rising competition, the domestic market alone cannot absorb the high volume of production. “For exports, particularly to India—Bhutan's principal market—potatoes must now meet stringent standards, including being soil-free, pest-free, properly graded, and packed in standard weights. The Potato Trade Facilitation Center in Gangtey is designed to address such needs.”
His Excellency Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
The Resident Representative of UNDP, Mohammad Younus, described the Potato Trade Facilitation Center in Gangtey as a groundbreaking initiative and said that UNDP is proud to have supported the centre. “I have heard about the struggles of potato farmers who had to take their potatoes all the way to Phuentsoholing and spend days there to sell their harvests. With online auction system in place, they can now trade their potatoes from Gangtey. The center will be a game changer that would enable farmers to get the most for their potato harvests, leading to increased trade, better prices and improved livelihoods.”
Mohammad Younus, Resident Representative of UNDP
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
A similar Potato Trade Facilitation Center is under construction in Chumey, Bumthang, with plans to offer online auction services by the coming year. Another facility is also being planned for Khaling, aiming to extend these benefits to the farmers in the country’s east.
The potatoes coming out after the washing and drying process, it will then move to the sorting and grading process.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
The Chief Executive Officer of FCBL, Dorji Tashi, said the introduction of online auction at the source is a significant step towards advancing Bhutan’s potato marketing development. The FCBL has reassured farmers that once their potatoes are packaged, they will be auctioned online, and the farmers will receive their payments within three days at the center.
Dorji Tashi, Chief Executive Officer of the Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL)
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
The farmers of Gangtey and Phobjikha excited with the new center since it will ease their lives.
UNDP Bhutan / Karma Jamtsho
The FCBL started implementing online auction system as part of the Bhutan Commodities Exchange Initiative (BCEI) in 2017.The BCEI is a joint initiative of the FCBL, Royal Security Exchange of Bhutan Ltd. (RSEBL) and the Department of Marketing and Cooperatives (DAMC), primarily aimed at commercializing farm produces and standardizing the quality, which would help to fetch attractive prices.
Media Contact: Karma Jamtsho, Programme Communications and Advocacy Analysts | Email: karma.jamtsho1@undp.org
