The trial of commercial sunflower seed farming in Tseza Gewog under Dagana has received mixed reactions from its growers.
The farming practice was introduced in the gewog for efficient land-use and to provide farmers with an alternative source of income.
Seventy two- year-old Tshokey is among the farmers in Tseza, who took up sunflower seed farming.
He planted sunflower on 50 decimals of wetland. He says, although growing sunflower requires a lot of work, the first harvest looks promising.
“We don’t have any experience in sunflower farming. With support from the dzongkhag agriculture sector, we were encouraged to try it. The office helped us with land management and tools. It looks like a profitable business and for that, of course, we have to work hard.”
However, some growers think otherwise.
“I will not continue growing sunflower from next year because I am aging and do not have anyone to help with the works. Moreover, we have to tend to the plants constantly and guard it from birds and monkeys almost through the day,” said another farmer, Karma Tshering.
For now, as the farmers have grown sunflowers on their wetland, they are uprooting it before the seeds are fully ripened.
They have to prepare their fields for paddy cultivation.
Agriculture officials say from next year, they will encourage farmers to grow sunflower on dry lands. They also assure farmers of a sustainable market for the seeds.
“We have a youth group in Dagapela who will be extracting sunflower oil. And to support them, we need enough raw materials at hand. We spent over seven hundred thousand ngultrum to procure the oil expelling machine. So this is why we are supporting and encouraging farmers to take up mass sunflower cultivation,” told Choki Wangdi, Gewog Extension Officer of Tseza Gewog to BBS.
As a trial project this time, the dzongkhag agriculture sector distributed over 500kgs of sunflower seeds.
Similar project has been undertaken in Tsenda-Gang, Gozhi and Lhamoi Dzingkha gewogs as well.
