Notwithstanding the initiatives undertaken and impetus provided on fallow land reversion, the progress in the field on this front is not as expected. Farmers continue to leave their lands fallow owing to the constraints already highlighted above coupled with inadequate favorable policy measures. There is therefore a need to introduce and implement creative ideas to collaborate, coordinate, forge partnerships and propose strategic measures to revert privately owned fallow land to productive agricultural use. One such approach is a government-facilitated fallow land bank (FLB) which will help those who own land but cannot unable to cultivate on their own and those with interest to cultivate but don’t own land. The FLB will be implemented for agricultural purposes covering crops, livestock and forestry activities only and will not have any implication on the existing customary land lease practices.
To create a formal platform for leasing fallow land for agricultural purposes.
To facilitate and encourage fallow land reversion to enhance national food security.
To help protect arable State Reserve Forest land in the country for perpetuity.
Excerpt from the Royal Address during 109th National Day celebration at Trongsa 17th December 2016
“Bhutan’s difficult terrain means that only 7 percent or 664,000 acres of our total land is usable. We must ensure that this small amount of land is put to the best use for the benefit of our people. Many of our people continue to depend directly on land for their livelihood. In addition, land is traditionally considered a precious inheritance to be bestowed to our children. The objective of the Land Kidu is to place the much-treasured land upon the hands of our people, and enable them to use it to better their lives and secure the future of their children. However, what I had hoped for with this undertaking has not been fully realized. Over the years, there are increasing numbers of Gungtong (absentee households), and I find that large portions of land continue to be left fallow across the country. The people, especially the young, have been leaving their villages for towns in greater numbers. I am deeply concerned that they will encounter unemployment and other difficulties in urban areas, and begin to despair.”
Fallow Land Bank - Bhutanese Context
A fallow land bank is a platform that allows people to deposit and lease fallow land for agricultural purposes with certain fees and rents. Once the bank is established, land owners who do not want, or are not able to cultivate their land can deposit in the FLB. Meanwhile, other interested parties can take such land on lease and use it for agricultural purposes.
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The term eSakor is an integrated land information service portal. Land owners can apply land transactions online.
Bhutan online Tax Payment System is developed to facilitate the land owners to pay land tax online without having to visit offices.
Land Mortgage System is developed by NLCS to integrate all the lands mortgaged in the financial institutions in the country.
Fallow Land Bank system will be developed in future to allow the land owners to deposit their fallow land for rent.