After people suffered shortages of vegetable during the first Nationwide Lockdown in August last year, farmers in Sarpang are now venturing into large-scale commercial vegetable farming. Seven Individuals from Samtenling Gewog has taken the government’s fallow land on lease for commercial farming.
Deepak Chhetri is one of the seven people and he leased five acres of government land in addition to his own five acres. The lands are located along Gelegphu-Sarpang highway.
Apart from commercial vegetable farming, he is growing vegetable seedlings as well. Over time, an increasing number of people visited his farm for vegetable seedlings that he is having difficulty in meeting the demand.
He said that it is overwhelming to see an increasing number of buyers this year.
“This time, I am surprised to see an unusual number of people taking vegetable seedlings. People who never did farming like teachers, hospital staff and people from all walks of life started taking seedlings and growing their own vegetable,” he added.
Although the lockdown has affected some of the farmers across the country, Deepak said that it was a blessing in disguise for him. His whole family is now into farming due to the restriction on movement during the lockdown and he is hoping for a good return this time.
He said, “whether it is vegetable farming or dairy farming, the lockdown has benefited us. We had the opportunity to concentrate on our work.”
He is also into mushroom cultivation. This year, he doubled his mushroom cultivation to 549 polybags compared to previous years. “We were able to contribute more than 200 to 300 kilograms of mushroom to the local market. We could harvest one kilogram of mushroom from a single packet in a go. So, a pack of mushroom could provide us at least six to seven kilograms,” said Deepak.
Deepak usually earns around Nu 400,000 annually. However, with additional farming on the leased land, he expects to earn more.
Like Deepak, there are others who have ventured into commercial farming as well.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
