To enhance high altitude rice cultivation in Bumthang, the district’s agriculture sector made a demonstration of rice harvesting machinery to the farmers of Jalikhar and Wangdicholing villages yesterday.
This is a much-needed intervention from the sector as rice cultivation is becoming increasingly popular in Bumthang over the years but also being impeded by water scarcity and poor farm mechanization at the same time.
The machinery includes a paddy reaper, which is used for cutting and gathering paddy, a smaller clearing saw like a machine which can be mounted on the back called the brush cutter and a rice threshing machine called the power thresher. They were procured at a cost of about Nu 300,000. Farmers can now hire the machinery from the sector at affordable rates, immediately. Farmers say the machinery would be really handy during harvest season. Meanwhile, the sector also provided 4 water pumps for the farmers of Jalikhar last year and reclaimed more than 10 acres of land for paddy cultivation. Farmers say the rice yield in the newly made paddy fields is really impressive.
“Due to a lack of irrigation water, we had to install water pumps last year. Because of the newly installed water pumps, the rice yield has been really good this year. Moreover, because of the farm mechanization initiative, we hope rice cultivation would become much more convenient and easier now. We now have the harvesting machinery and enough irrigation water,” said Sonam Tobgay, from Jalikhar in Bumthang.
“Because there is a shortage of workforce in villages now, the machinery will save a lot of time and manpower. This will even encourage farmers to cultivate more paddies now on. Even if we can do the transplantation works, harvesting and threshing have been very difficult so far as unpleasant weather and rainfall during harvesting period damage our already reaped and stacked paddy. With the machinery, we think we won’t have to face such difficulties. They will be really beneficial for us,” added Tekpa, from Wangduechhoeling in Bumthang.
The number of paddy farmers is increasing each year in Bumthang. High altitude paddy cultivation is considered a success in Bumthang after it was piloted in 2004. According to agriculture officials in Bumthang, rice yield in Bumthang which averages at about 2.7 metric tonnes or 2700 KGs per acre is much higher than the National Average Rice Yield. Paddy is cultivated in an area of over 170 acres in Chhoekhor and Tang Gewogs.
Moreover, 22 households of Jalikhar and Gongkhar villages have now registered with the Dzongkhag Agriculture Sector for reclamation of over 20 acres of fallow lands to cultivate paddy from next year.
“Rice used to be very scarce in Bumthang in the past as paddy wasn’t cultivated here. We used to go to Trongsa and Monggar to gather rice for Losar, Tshechu and other important rituals. This is why people are very keen on cultivating paddy as we can now grow it here as well. It has become like a staple diet for us now. Paddy yields better than potato here. If we grow an acre of rice, it would be enough for the whole year’s ration,” Tekpa added.
To address irrigation water scarcity for other paddy farmers, the Dzongkhag administration has plans to build a new irrigation channel by drawing stream water from Tamshing and JambayLhakhang area for the farmers of Jalikhar and Gongkhar villages by next year. The agriculture sector also plans to provide irrigation and machinery support wherever necessary to paddy growers in Tang. Of the 5 new brush cutters, 4 will be provided to the farmers of Tang soon.
Meanwhile, to introduce new rice varieties in Bumthang, 7 new high altitude rice varieties are on trial in Chhoekhor and Tang Gewogs currently.
Kipchu
