Land reclamation and mass vegetable cultivation works are underway in several farms across the country for the School and Hospital Feeding Program. The program was implemented in 2019 after the World Food Programme withdrew its support for the School Feeding Program in Bhutan by the end of 2018. In Bumthang, the Farm Machinery Corporation (FMCL) is carrying out potato cultivation in over eight acres of land at Chhumig Gewog.
In Bumthang, the FMCL is currently reclaiming over eight acres of fallow land belonging to farmers of Domkhar chiwog in Chhumig Gewog.
“This is more like an exemplar for land reclamation and crop cultivation in once-abandoned fields. We are starting off with potato cultivation this year. We will supply the harvest to the School and Hospital Feeding Program at cheaper rates,” said Tempa Phuntsho, the Area Manager of the FMCL in Bumthang.
The corporation will cultivate crops in these fields for three years and will hand over them to the owners after the three-year lease period.
“We signed a three-year lease agreement with the farmers whereby FMCL is supposed to install e-fencing and barbed wire fencing around the fields, besides the tilling works. After three years, we will return the fields to the farmers themselves if they demand so or else we will start paying them some charges,” he added.
More fallow lands will be cultivated from next year. This year, about six households of farmers have agreed to join the project.
“We had to abandon the fields as they are quite far from the village and we couldn’t guard our crops from wild boars, so I think this initiative will definitely benefit us as the corporation agreed to fence the fields and hand them over to us after three years if we ask them,” said Chenzom, from Domkhar under Chhumig.
“The barbed wire and e-fences will benefit us a lot in guarding our crops from wild animals,” added Choki, also in Domkhar.
The FMCL is carrying out similar vegetable cultivation works in Phaithang farm in Trongsa on over fifty acres of land for the program.
Kipchu, Bumthang
