To commemorate the memory of the man who made modern agriculture possible in Bhutan, Dasho Nishioka, a museum was inaugurated in Paro on June 17.
The museum displays pictures and video footage of the late Dasho Nishioka as well as various farming machineries acquired through the Japanese non-profit grant project.
Dasho Nishioka, a Japanese horticulturist, came to Bhutan as a Colombo expert and began to work with Bhutanese farmers in 1964.
He was warmly known as “Japan Sahib”, and he focused on modernizing the farming techniques of the Bhutanese people so that they could harvest more and better produce. He immediately began vegetable cultivation trials in Paro and this resulted in hitherto unknown vegetables like the asparagus you see being sold on the Paro – Thimphu highway these days.
Dasho Nishioka also noticed that there were no modern farming tools in Bhutan so he established a small manufacturing unit with two blacksmiths in 1977. This would later develop into the agriculture machinery centre, which is also the location for the museum.
His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo awarded him the title of “Dasho” in 1980. He is the only foreigner to have received the title so far.