Case Studies

In 2000 the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and the Ministry of Education in a joint project, launched a School Agricultural Project to introduce and disseminate sustainable agriculture system for teachers and students. In order to popularize the use of EM technology effectively among teachers and students, a short course on EM Technology has been introduced in the syllabus of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Paro, where the concepts are explained to the students in the classroom and practical-demonstration classes are taken in the fields. They started with 6 schools as a trial project and today there are approximately 100 schools (the total number of schools in Bhutan is 551) applying this program for learning the recycled base farming system. Furthermore, each school has farming clubs with about 30 students who are designated as EM Masters and are responsible of caring for their farmlands and animals.
 
Each school uses their sloped hills to make farms of about 10-20a and use Activated EM-1 (AEM) provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. AEM is also used to make EM compost for irrigation. AEM is also applied for preparing feed, drinking water, for cleaning up animal houses, school toilets and to keep hygienic conditions in the whole school.
 
Making EM Compost:
Students are deeply involved in preparation of EM Bokashi where forest leaf molds, vegetable wastes, cow dungs, paddy straws, sawdust are thoroughly mixed and put inside the dug pits. The AEM is adequately added and mixed with raw materials during the process of pit fillings. After two months, the materials are inverted inside the pits and again kept for another two months with the cover of plastic sheets. Once these materials are fully decomposed, they were taken out and used in vegetable gardens, fruit trees and flower plants.
 

Tsirang Dzongkhag School participates in the School Agricultural Project.
About 30 students out of 470 students actively participate in this program for 2 to 3 hours a week. Currently, the school has 800 chickens, 4 pigs and 3 cattle. The students are mixing AEM with the animal’s drinking water. It is unique on the program that they use an old two-story school building as a chicken shed. The chickens lay about 400 eggs every day and these eggs are used in school lunches for the teachers and students.Tsirang Dzongkhag School participates in the School Agricultural Project.
About 30 students out of 470 students actively participate in this program for 2 to 3 hours a week. Currently, the school has 800 chickens, 4 pigs and 3 cattle. The students are mixing AEM with the animal’s drinking water. It is unique on the program that they use an old two-story school building as a chicken shed. The chickens lay about 400 eggs every day and these eggs are used in school lunches for the teachers and students.

Raising chickens started in May 2015 and, in the future, they are planning to apply the chicken manure over rice, corn and vegetable fields. Also. EMRO’s partner, Mr. BB Ray is planning to teach the students and teachers how to hatch chicks so that the project will sustain. Ideally, if they can also sell chicks in their area, it will be a region wide project.

Every year on the World Food Day, October 16, there is a contest to select the best managed school farms. The most important prize is called “Dr. Teruo Higa Prize” in honor to the developer of EM Technology.     

Approximately 190 of the 551 schools in Bhutan now participate in the School Agricultural Project, and the school that has the most outstanding school vegetable garden among the high, junior high and elementary schools, will be given the award. About 100 schools are using EM Technology.

Preservation of natural environment, conservation and sustainable harvesting of natural resources has always been a priority area in Bhutan development policy. It is therefore that nature farming applying EM Technology will remain as an important practice in Bhutanese agriculture.