Dairy | Bhutan’s dairy production reaches 48,014 metric tonnes in 2023

Bhutan's total dairy production reached 48,014 metric tonnes (MT) last year, according to the country's Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Census 2023 (IALC 2023), Kuensel reported.

Edited by: Damián Morais

Bhutan’s total dairy production reached 48,014 metric tonnes (MT) last year, according to the country’s Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Census 2023 (IALC 2023), Kuensel reported.

The IALC 2023 attributed this growth to initiatives such as dairy breed intensification programmes, improved management practices, enhanced nutrition and animal health services, and strengthened farmers’ institutions in the dairy sector.

Between 2022 and 2023, dairy production saw an increase of 1,739 MT. Specifically, the economy recorded about 43,829 MT of milk, 1,727 MT of butter, 2,326 MT of cheese, and 132 MT of chugo, a type of Bhutan hardened cheese, during this period.

Among the country’s districts, Trashigang led in the production of milk, butter, and cheese, with totals of 5,503 MT, 226 MT, and 311 MT, respectively.

However, cheese production decreased slightly by 2% last year due to increased chugo production and higher demand for buttermilk in the market.

To enhance the dairy breed intensification programme, the ministry supplied a total of 71,653 litres of liquid nitrogen across 130 artificial insemination centres last year, improving about 1,174 acres of pasture for dairy cattle.

According to a press release from Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the introduction of sexed-semen technology, one of the advanced reproductive biotechnologies, aimed to increase the milking cattle population with the potential of producing over 90 percent female progenies.

The Bhutan Trade Statistics 2023 reported that the country exported about 267.89 MT of milk, butter, and cheese worth BTN 29.37 million (US$350,000).

Despite this, Bhutan imported 13,060.46 MT of milk and milk products worth BTN 1.31 billion (US$15.6 billion). Additionally, the country imported 389.75 MT of butter worth BTN 160.4 million (US$1.9 million) and 1,451.79 MT of cheese worth BTN 677.84 million (US$8 million).

Currently, Bhutan has a cattle population of close to 222,600, a steady decline from over 320,000 in the 1960s.

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