The prolonged pandemic has kept the agriculture officials in Tsirang busy with farming. The three gewog agriculture extension officers of Kilkhorthang, Sergithang and Tsirang Toed have ventured into mass vegetable production to supplement vegetable shortages in the country.
They are growing small green chillies, early Bhutanese chillies, onion and tomato in three and a half acres of land in the RNR premises in Sergithang Gewog with prior consent from Tsirang Dzongkhag and Sergithang Gewog Administration.
For them, weekends are the busiest time nurturing the vegetables but their love for framing makes it a lot easier and interesting.
D.B Ghalley, the Gewog Agriculture Extension Officer of Sergithang Gewog said, “it is to revive the fallow land, which has been left as fallow for decades and we started right from the bush clearing. We also want to disseminate the latest agriculture technology to our farmers and to come up with a proper cost of production.”
He added that the authenticating cost of production will help in fixing selling prices for vegetables in the market.
Currently, customers across the country are complaining of exorbitant prices for green chillies and its shortage.
“We have invested our money for procuring so many farm materials, invested in labourers and then investing our times during weekends. We will be selling these vegetables in the market at a reasonable price,” said D.B Ghalley.
The vegetables from the farm will start hitting the markets by next month.
D.B Ghalley said, “people might be thinking that as a civil servant we might be using their share but then it is not. We don’t want to get the share from the people. This is rather helping them by disseminating information on technology. Some farmers visited my field and are doing what I have been doing and sometimes I even force them to start such activity on their farms.”
The team has spent over Nu 600,000 for the farm so far and also recruited few regular farm attendants creating employment opportunities in the gewog.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
