The electric fence has not only helped the farmers of Jongthang and Mangdephu under Nubi Gewog in Trongsa protect their crops from wild animals but has also saved people from spending tiring nights. It has been more than five years since the farmers there got the electric fence.
Until 2014, wild animal’s rampage dragged the farmers of the villages into their fields. Guarding crops against wild boars and deer was their daily routine. Thanks to the electric fence; their hard days’ works have been saved from destruction and them from tiring nights in the fields.
In 2015, the villages got some 17-kilometre of electric fence, enough to cover hundreds of acres of paddy field.
”I grew old, fencing my fields with bamboo rails. It would take me almost a week to fence my entire field every season, but wild animals would break it easily,’’ said Jurmey, a farmer from Jongthang.
But today, he no longer fences his fields. He leaves all the troubles to the magic of the electric fence.
Likewise, Thinley Jamtsho, another farmer said, ”from the day we sow seeds, we would hardly get good sleep. But now, we can finally find a warm bed in our homes.’’
Since 2015, more than 170 kilometres of the electric fence have been installed, benefiting some 28 households in the gewog. However, few households of Jongthang are still yet to get the facility.
The villages are favourable for all varieties of crops, and provided they are provided with the same facility, some farmers also intend to revive their fallow lands and begin commercial farming.
Meanwhile, the district agriculture office will restore and maintain the worn-out wires of about four households of Mangdephu soon.
Passang
