𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑘𝑖 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑘ℎ𝑎 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒

The rapeseed in the field is about two feet tall. Beautiful rape flowers are like a decorative pattern painted on a green new dress. In the sunshine, a large piece of rape blossoms is unique and dazzling.

At this time, if you walk into the field, a burst of fragrance will float with the wind, and the whole field will be immersed in the sea of incense. You will see bees fly and take the fragrant powder.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.” This was one of the many things about growing flowers that Choki Selden, from Goen Shari, Punakha, heard from her grandparents. It inspired her to take up organic floriculture cultivation in her village.

One such place where the flowers are grown is in Drachukha village, on the way to Gasa, opposite side of Tsephu Nye.

Drachukha is a beautiful and remote farming village located in the middle of a dense and wild highland old-growth forest in central Bhutan. There are 20 households, 53 farmers, and a total of 114 family members.

Most of the fertile farmland is used to cultivate a variety of crops for household consumption, so people depend less on imported foods. The areas are surrounded by rice terraces and flower fields including Cornflowers, marigolds, sunflowers, and roses that grow freely in this place.

From July-September, this place is usually abuzz with excitement at this time of the year. With the harvesting season just around the corner, Choki and her two friends will be busy plucking beautiful flowers from their fields.

In the field. The land under the feet also has a spring. A trace of grass from the ground has just grown furry, and the golden cornflowers bloomed in large pieces as if the ground was covered with a layer of golden carpet. It is a blossoming rape flower. They are golden and golden, like a piece of gold.

These three women who decided to stay back in their community after their studies have come up with new ideas to create sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families, which made into a source of income in since 2017.

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗶 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗸𝗵𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗶, 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆.

“Creating authentic food products with naturally grown herbs, spices, and vegetables from their community, completed with precious edible flowers,” Choki said adding that not only has the flower business prospered but also provided a source of livelihood to the women group.

Choki shared that two years ago, they planted flowers on three different farmlands named A, B, and C. They cultivate flowers on a rotational basis. “As the farmlands stretch wide, we hired the villagers and plant the seeding in the fields,” she said.

Around June, the flower group starts to plant the seeds. “We keep two years gap to cultivate the flowers for each field, so, after two years again we are planting it varieties of flowers,” she said adding after harvesting the flowers, they plant soya beans.

Once the plantation is done, Choki shared that they have to weed often and it takes almost seven to eight months to fully bloom.

“It is the Buddhist belief that not only one can accumulate merits by doing goods but taking good care of flowers. it does have other benefits too,” she said.

After seven months, the flower bloomed into a variety of colors such as Red, Pink, and Blue were beautiful adoring the place in the early spring.

“𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀,” 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗶 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 adding Bhutan has the ambition to become the organically farmed country in the world, resonating with the Buddhist philosophy of living in harmony with nature and all sentient beings.

However, the flower plantation works in Drachukha village have also immensely benefited the community. The Drachukha Flower Group will grow, dry, and market organic edible flowers.

“We are earning Nu 20-30,000 per month and we are giving almost Nu 70-75,000 to the community for various work in the village. Most of the funds were used to make farm roads in the village,” she said.

Through this project, Choki said that she wants to empower women and young people in the villages and help reverse rural-urban migration in the country.

“One of the unique products of the community helps us build a wooden processing unit. These have taken part in establishing the first organically-certified flower farm in Bhutan,” she said.

Choki said that she will prove that farming can provide a colorful and exciting future for Bhutan’s young people, who are currently leaving farms and flooding the towns.

According to the Drachukha community, our country wants to go organic and self-sufficient in food, community needs to make our farms more resilient and more productive.

“The products that can help to drive this change, we discovered the great potential of dried petals of flowers, which traditionally grow in our communities.”

One of the farmers who helped the flowers group during harvesting time said that the dried petals have an increasing demand in markets in other countries as ingredients in innovative food and beverage products.

“Growing these valuable flowers among many other crops for our home consumption and the local market has helped us to transition our community into a place where young people stay here and work in the village,” he said.

The use of flowers in food dates back thousands of years to the Chinese, Greek, and Romans. Throughout history, flowers have contributed to many different cultures and have been documented in culinary records. They don’t just look pretty and smell pretty, some of them taste pretty good and pack in a punch as far as wellness goes.

Today, edible flowers are not just eaten but used for aesthetic purposes. Most edible flowers are rich in Vitamin C, and each boasts a wealth of individual benefits that make them a must-add to your diet.

Edible flowers are an excellent source of nutrients, commonly packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, all of which can help lower the risk of certain health problems like cancer and heart disease.

Wangchuck Dema, another woman in the group said that life in the village is hard. But our strong sense of community and growing edible flowers gives us more than enough reason to try sustaining ourselves and our families in our village.

“Cornflowers, marigolds, sunflowers, and roses grow in our village. These same flowers could also serve as a valuable source of income,” she said adding they use compost and cow dung as a fertilizer and no chemicals.

She shared that our goal is to organically grow, dry, and bring to market the flower petals that already grow naturally in our village, in crop rotation with other organic grains, vegetables, and herbs.

“Our farm has been an EU-certified organic farm in Bhutan, making an important contribution to the country’s goal to go 100% organic,” she said.

Further, Tshering Yangden and Wangchuck Dema two young women from Drachukha graduated class XII but decided to go back to our community to farm our parents’ lands. “We are the three sole remaining women of our generation farming in our village,” they said.

Tshering Yangden said that three of us have been part of a Farmers’ Cooperative for a couple of years, and we have been growing spices and herbs in the village on a small scale for a local food business in Thimphu.

“With successfully demonstrating the feasibility of this project, we will encourage other households in the village to join us in growing flowers on a larger scale,” she said.

She shared that flowers will be used as ingredients in food products but it is believed to have medicinal qualities. “In the village, we have a long tradition of using flowers as immune boosters as well,” she said.

However, the flower group has developed a partnership with Druk Meto. Where part of the harvest is exported to Switzerland and another part is the value added to products for the local market.

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗶 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗸𝗵𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 said that if you want to improve agriculture practices in the country and support farmers to be sustainably self-sufficient, we need to help each other to work together.

From a distance, the narrow rapeseed field is like the belt of nature; the sporadic rapeseed field, a piece of purple platinum, and green wheat intertwined into a beautiful pattern of decorative fields; the whole piece of endless rapeseed field.

In the small river next to the rapeseed field, the river is green, the dishes are reflected, and the purple rate is distinct. The prestige blew, and the rape blossomed and stretched its beautiful posture.