Multiple factors lead to Increasing trends in Royal Quinoa Ashi Heychum ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd) Production in eastern Bhutan: A case of enabling climate resilience through livelihood enhancement

Improving the nutritive quality of grains can help reduce the challenges in food security and climate change impacts. Quinoa – Chenopodium quinoa Willd offers an alternative option to those countries suffering from food insecurity and food shortage. In Bhutan, Chenopodium album is widely found as a weed while a wild type is said to be cultivated in backyards in remote villages in east and central Bhutan but its identification is not yet clear ^i. The proper cultivation of known quinoa varieties began only in 2015 when Department of Agriculture, MoAF with the assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) introduced two new varieties (Amarila marangani and Amarila saccaca) from Peru for ensuring household nutritional security, income and as a climate resilient crop against the rapidly changing climate.

In Bhutan, as quinoa could fit well with the existing maize and potato-based farming system, Agriculture Research and Development Center (ARDCs) carried out on- station and on-farm varietal evaluation trials of the introduced varieties to assess its adaptability and performance in varying agro-ecological zones since 2015. Click here to continue reading..