Bhutan’s ambitious target of achieving food self-reliance faces growing hurdles as a sharp drop in cultivated farmland pushes the nation toward greater import dependency. According to the latest Food Balance Sheets report released by the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 5,000 hectares of agricultural land have gone out of production over the past four years. The country’s gross cropped area dropped significantly from 42,000 hectares in 2021 down to 36,600 hectares in 2024, driven primarily by steep declines in harvested land for spices, pulses, and core staples.
The shrinking agricultural base directly impacts national food security, widening the deficit between domestic output and dietary needs. Data reveals that domestic cereal production fulfilled only 33 percent of national demand between 2021 and 2024, while vegetable oil production covered a mere 12 percent, leaving the country heavily reliant on foreign imports for basic daily nutrition. Although yields in specific fruit cash crops like oranges expanded modestly, overall dietary energy supply decreased by roughly 7 percent per capita during the same four-year period.
The continuous loss of active farmland underscores a fundamental challenge for policy planners striving to transform the agricultural sector. Despite persistent investments in modernization and local food initiatives, the ongoing decline in arable land threatens to offset yield improvements. As local production fails to keep pace with demand, experts warn that sustained agricultural land loss risks cementing long-term dependence on volatile global supply chains for essential food commodities.
