Samtse

Samtse borders where Bhutan meets both Sikkim and West Bengal—a geographic position that made the district the kingdom's cardamom capital. With 65% of national cardamom production in 2014, Samtse exemplifies niche agriculture shaped by altitude gradients: the district spans 600 to 3,800 meters, enabling cultivation of cardamom (introduced in the 1970s), ginger, areca nut, and mandarins across distinct elevational bands. This cash crop specialization oriented the economy toward Indian markets directly across the border rather than distant Thimphu. The district's 62,590 residents make it Bhutan's third most populous, concentrated in valleys where subtropical climate supports intensive cultivation. But Samtse's cardamom dominance faces disruption: citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing) devastated mandarin orchards throughout the 2010s, pushing farmers toward cardamom as a more resilient alternative. The shift demonstrates agricultural succession under disease pressure—a natural experiment in crop portfolio restructuring. Illicit trade complicates the picture: fronting arrangements where Indian traders operate under Bhutanese export licenses and cross-border smuggling undercut prices for legitimate farmers, eroding the reputation of what should be premium spices. The district's population density (48 per square kilometer, second highest nationally) reflects the productive capacity of these transitional slopes between Himalayan highlands and Indian plains. By 2026, Samtse's agricultural future depends on resolving the regulatory gaps that enable parallel trade while managing the climate shifts affecting precipitation patterns that cardamom requires.