De-suup Tshering Denkar (4th Batch) is from Buli village under Nangkhar Gewog in Zhemgang. She studied Journalism in India and worked abroad from 2015 – 2018 in Kuwait under the overseas work programme of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources. She came back to look after her ailing mother and then decided to look for new opportunities.

When she heard about the Hydroponics & Organic Fertilizer Production DSP at the ARDC, Bajo she signed up and also went on to do the Farm Machinery course from the Agriculture Machinery Centre. After completion of the DSPs, she was able to secure Nu. 0.5 million as grant from the Project for Rural Development (PRuDent)with support from DSP and the MoAF.

She started her own hydroponic farm on 0.07 acres of land leased from a friend at Babesa with the grant, and she is now able to successfully grow lettuce. She intends to link her produce directly to the market and her production will be based on the demand by the market. Currently, she has lettuce, thyme, sweet basil, sage, oregano and rosemary and plans to further expand by including strawberries and other herbs. She wants to make all herbs available from one place for her clients.

Tshering says that the Desuung Skilling Programme is a Soelra that has helped her get the right skills to realize her dreams. She hopes to inspire other youth to see the opportunities in modern agricultural methods which is labor saving, hi-tech and mechanized.

Tshering said that her inspiration is derived from His Majesty The King’s address to the nation on the need to embrace modern technology and innovation and she is confident farming is a viable source of employment which will not only help her to be independent but also help her make a small contribution towards nation building in line with His Majesty’s profound vision.