The AMC has touched the lives of may Bhutanese farmers through the various services it provides. AMC has been instrumental in the transformation of the basic farm tools to labor and energy saving farm machines and tools. It has also been a major influence in the use of improved farming techniques. The AMC also takes pride in the creation and innovation of several tools and implements that are widely used in the Bhutanese agriculture by our farmers. A significant achievement of the AMC is the development of capacities of our farmers to embrace and apply new farming techniques and technologies.

Many kinds of farm machines have made inroad into the Bhutan’s unfriendly farmlands. Farm machines such as power tillers have also made way into farms, which are inaccessible by road. Farmers have carried the machines and reassembled at their remote farms. A testimony to the success of the promotion of farm mechanization is the increasing demand for different types of equipment’s and machines from farmers from all over the country. AMC has stood a trusted partner to the Bhutanese farmers as they beat the constraints of a rough and landlocked farming terrain.

The farmers purchase the farm machines through credit provided by financial institutions. The loan recovery against farm machine purchases has enjoyed an excellent record. This is an indication of the benefits translating directly into enhanced income for the farmers.

Increasingly, farmers have been adopting new practices of farming. Come of the practices worth mentioning include cultivation, crop processing operations, nursery raising, paddy transplantation, rice milling, flour milling and oil milling. The adoption of new technology not only enhances yield and better output, it also makes agriculture a commercially viable enterprise. AMC takes pride in having promoted more than 3598 micro enterprises in post harvest processing with the involvement of farming communities in the rural regions. It has also supplied 220 tractors and 2002 power tillers besides many other varied farm machines. These ventures have proved to be highly profitable and sustainable investments.

The application of technology also renders agriculture more attractive to the Bhutanese youth.

Interventions in Bhutanese farming

Interventions in Bhutanese farming are aimed at ending drudgery, saving costs, improving yield and enhancing productivity through the use of suitable farm machinery, tools and equipment’s. Much of the farming drudgery is prominent in the land preparation, transplantation, weeding, harvesting, threshing, drying and storage. These agricultural works are traditionally carried out manually without or with rudimentary tools and implements. Hence farming was characterized by back breaking hard work with low productivity and yield. The AMC interventions have made much headway in making farming an attractive venture with less hardship, better yields and greater productivity. Machines received under Japanese KR II grant are sold to the farmers at subsidized costs. The sale proceeds are deposited as counter part fund in financial institutions. With the counter part fund, about 300 activities had been initiated which are aimed at enhancing rural livelihood and accessibility, valued at 400 million Ngultrums covering livestock, agriculture and conservation. Such initiatives are making significant impact in alleviating poverty in the entire country.

Land Preparation

Land preparation is the most difficult work in agriculture. It entails breaking the land surface and loosening it to be prepared for sowing and plantation. Traditionally land preparation is done by digging the surface with the help of a spade or by ploughing using draught animals. Mechanizing by using machines such as power tiller and tractor, much of the drudgery of land preparation is alleviated while the per capita working capacity is drastically improved.

Comparative Working Capacity and Cost

Methods	Using Spade	Bullock Ploughing	Power Tiller	Tractor (40hP)
Sq meter / day	200	1000	4000	10,000
Cost/acre	Nu. 4000	Nu. 2000	Nu. 1000	Nu. 800

Transplanting

Traditionally transplanting is done mostly by women. It is a hard job involving hours of bending to reach the ground as they plant the saplings. The seedlings are planted randomly into the muddy field. New methods of transplanting engages transplanting machines and approaches where the seedlings are planted in lines. The use of machines makes the transplanting job easier and more efficient and labour saving.

Methods	Manual Transplanting	Machine (Two-row)
Labour / acre   (Man days)	20	1
Cost/acre	Nu. 4000	Nu. 1500

Weeding

Traditionally paddy weeding is done manually by women. Weeding is also a physically demanding job as it has to be done in bent positions for long hours. With the use of weeding machine, the work is done more easily, faster and with improved efficiency.

Methods	Manual Weeding	Paddy Weeder
Labour / acre  (Man days)	40	10
Cost/acre	Nu. 8000	Nu. 2000

Harvesting

Traditionally harvesting is done by using sickle. Serrated sickle is more efficient and has become popular among the Bhutanese farmers. For larger farms, power reapers are cost effective. A small engine driven harvester can do the job of 20 persons.

Methods	Local Sickle	Serrated Sickle	Power Reapers
Sq meter / day	200	300	8000
Cost/acre	Nu. 4000	Nu. 2600	Nu. 1500

Threshing

Threshing is done manually by treading with feed, thrashing with long sticks and beating on flat stones and logs. Not only is this method physically exhausting, substantial amount of grain is lost in the process. With the threshing machine the physical demand is alleviated. Moreover the grain loss in threshing process is significantly reduced.

Methods	Manual Threshing	Pedal Threshing	Power Threshing
Capacity	20	70	350
Cost/acre	Nu. 1250	Nu. 350	Nu. 350

Drying and Storage

In the traditional method crops such as maize is stored and dried by hanging under the rood truss or in the attic of the Bhutanese house. Direct storage after harvesting would damage the crops due to high moisture content in the environment. The traditional method of drying is not safe from insects and rodents. AMC has introduced air-forced dryer and silo for storage in the communities along with other processing machines.