Farmers of three chiwogs of Saling gewog in Monggar are worried over their rice harvest this year. The paddy plants have been infected with brown spot disease.
Brown spot is a fungal disease that infects leaves and stalks. This is the first such outbreak reported in the gewog.
Galikha village is the worst hit. Farmers, who are cultivating the crop on leased lands, are worried this time they will not be able to harvest even the land owner’s share.
There are around 22 households in Galikha growing paddy on leased lands.
“We have to give our landowner’s share from whatever we harvest. Last season, we had sufficient stock of rice. But this time, it looks like we will have to depend on imported rice,” Kezang Dema from Galikha said.
“I am worried this year the harvest won’t be enough for the landowner’s share. All the plants have died. This time, even pests attacked our crop. From the two acre field, I will have to give 500 dreys of rice to the land owner. I don’t know how I will manage that,” Chengamo from Galikha said.
“I am not sure if the harvest will be enough to last a year. After giving half of the harvest to the landowner, there won’t be anything left for us,” Sonam Delma from Galikha said.
Farmers of the other two affected chiwogs of Thridangbi and Tsenzabi_Masangdaza are equally worried.
On an average, a farmer spends Nu 15,000 every year to transplant paddy.
The gewog’s Agriculture Extension Supervisor Sonam Yangden said the outbreak could be due to the use of old seeds and climate change.
The office has advised the affected farmers to apply urea to control the infestation. Pesticides and sprayers have also been distributed.
However, some farmers are reluctant to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Meanwhile, a team from the Agriculture Research and Development Center (ARDC) in Wengkhar also visited and inspected the affected paddy fields.
