With the closure of all point of entries since 23rd of last month, small shops depending on areca nuts (Doma) across the country are grappling with the shortages of the nut which were mostly imported from India. Whereas villagers of Langchenphu Gewog in Jomotshangkha Dungkhag are worried about how to sell their areca nuts.
Locals there used to export Doma to India before. Now with India in lockdown amid COVID-19 pandemic, they have no options but to wait. They can’t supply the Doma to the other parts of the Dzongkhags because the Dungkhag is still not connected with an internal road. The Dungkhag is connected with Samdrup Jongkhar only via the 190-kilometre Indian highway.
One of the main sources of income of all the households in Langchuenphu Gewog is from selling areca nuts. They directly sell it to Indian businessmen who used to come to their farm and collect it. In a year villagers use to earn around Nu 60,000 to Nu 200,000 from selling Doma.
According to villagers they use to harvest areca nuts during this time of the year. Last year, the gewog has produced more than 100 metric tonnes of areca nuts.
Netra Prasad Khotiwara, a farmer from Langchenphu Gewog shares his worries about losing the market because of the border closure in Bhutan and also the lockdown in India. “Our Indian customers can’t come here to buy Doma, and we cannot supply it to other areas. If we don’t harvest this time, soon the windy season is coming and it will damage all our crops. So I will be grateful if the government could look into it,” he said.
Locals also shared that if the lockdown in India continues to stretch for some more time then they won’t be able to earn anything. Bhim S Subba, also a farmer in the same gewog said that it’s the harvest time for Doma and only the government can help them solve the market issue. ” Now we request the government to see possibilities to take our areca nuts to market,” he said.
Meanwhile, Samdrup Jongkhar Agriculture Sector is currently collecting production data of areca nuts for this year in Langchenphu Gewog. The sector said they will help villagers to market areca nuts to Samdrup Jongkhar town and other dzongkhags.
The Agriculture Sector also added that it will help market any kind of agriculture products from Jomotshangkha Duungkhag.
Kinley Wangchuk
