Farmers in parts of Punakha are worried by the acute shortage of irrigation water hampering the paddy transplantation works. As the peak season for paddy cultivation began in the dzongkhag, some paddy fields still remain dry and fallow due to lack of rainfall and insufficient irrigation water in place.
Dochhukha_Dzomlingthang_Ritsa chiwog under Guma Gewog in Punakha is one of the villages where farmers live under stress for not being able to start their paddy cultivation works even today.
“We can’t even sleep well these days due to the stress of not having irrigation water. There will be no paddy saplings when the water comes as all the saplings are dried. I am worried about how to do the paddy cultivation works this time in my field,” Yeshi, from Dochhukha_Dzomlingthang_Ritsa chiwog, Punakha, said.
Some locals have already done the transplantation works while some fields remain fallow with the dust of drought cakes. The paddies planted when there was some water due to a weeklong rainfall are already dried and cracking. But, for those who could not take that opportunity are still waiting for the rain.
“With expectations of rainfall, our farmers spend sleepless nights, waking up now and then to check the weather. Their peace of mind is disturbed because they could not do the paddy cultivation works due to the shortage of water. This is the first time we are encountering such problems,” Dawa Gyeltshen, the tshogpa of the village said.
According to the farmers, this month is the right time for them to do their paddy cultivation works and they used to be fully engaged in their works at this time earlier. But they say due to lack of water this year, they are still not being able to start their works. As per the villagers, the weather remains sunny and paddy sapling began drying in the field now. Likewise, even the transplanted paddies and chillies in the community have begun to dry.
“All the paddy saplings have been dried now. We cannot plant the paddy even if water comes later. There is no way we can do anything. We are very much sure that we will face insufficient food this time. Of course, we have this problem for a long time but did not experience worst than this time. All the paddy and saplings, even grasses have been dried now. We neither have water to drink nor for irrigational purposes. We did not face such a problem since from our childhood and we are worried now,” said Anim from the same village.
“Paddy cultivation will be getting late even if we sow the paddy seeds again. And it will be getting late if we fail to cultivate in the 6th month of the Bhutanese Calander. There won’t be a good yield even if we plant the paddy beyond that month. So, we are worried about how to manage our ration this year. We cannot produce anything if there is no water in place,” added Gomchen from the same chiwog.
According to the farmers, their irrigation water is drying from the source itself and the situation worsening every year. The present water source, which is located at the place called Nyakalum, below Bjabchu Karmo Nunnery is about 14 km away from their village and is being shared by the two chiwog in the gewog, which has the same issue. the irrigation water channel remains empty and idle today, which otherwise, is filled with water at this time.
According to the Gewog Administration, they are trying to seek divine intervention by performing some local rituals to have rainfall, which otherwise, has no other options to provide the irrigation water for them. The gup says they have allocated budget if water channel got damaged, but it’s out of their capacity to either locate a separate water source or to supply water by installing the water pump from Mochhu River since their villages are far away.
However, BBS could not contact the Gewog Agriculture Extension Official for comments. The chiwog has fifty households with a population of about eight hundred.
