This time of year, farmers will be reaping the benefits of their months of hard labour in the scorching sun and soaking rain. But not this time. Starting with cabbage, ginger and potatoes, export has never been smooth amid the pandemic. The latest is carrots from Haa.
When the government announced restrictions on tourists visiting the country last year to fight the coronavirus, 27-year-old Passang from Choompa under Bji Gewog in Haa, working as a tour guide, ventured into carrot farming. The start was good, and he even managed to make some profit.
“Last year from this field, I harvested 40 sacks of carrots. I was able to make a small profit after paying labour and other expenses. It is mainly due to a market issue we got only Nu 450 per sack last year. I can say I got profit of Nu 15 to 20,000 from growing carrots last year,” he said.
Encouraged by the good start, he invested more to double the production. Today, he expects more than 90 sacks of carrots from his field. Every sack weighs nearly 40 kilograms and before the pandemic, they fetched nearly Nu 2,000 per sack of carrots. However, there are no buyers and with each passing day, his carrots in the soil will be worth a little less.
“Carrots after maturing form cracks and some become hard, that category goes in rejected list. We then feed it to cattle”.
Like him, most farmers in his village are into carrot farming on a commercial scale. They are also worried about the worsening situation.
“We are worried now. The carrots in the fields are maturing fast and rotting. If we uproot it there is no market. If we don’t, it is getting bigger and bigger in size and developing cracks. Such carrots are rejected in the open market,” said Rinchen Dawa, a farmer, in Choompa under Bji Gewog.
“It is mainly cost or price that is determining the market for carrots. It is disheartening when we don’t get the expected price but today’s case is even worse. We have no place to sell carrots now. If officials could intervene and come to our rescue we would be grateful,” added Kaka, also a farmer in the same village.
Meanwhile, the Dzongkhag Agriculture office said that there is a communication gap between farmers and the officials that are affecting the swift transit of carrots to the market.
“We are not certain why they were not able to sell their produce. I believe it is the pricing that is holding back their business deal. But I am not coming to this conclusion. If they are facing such a problem they have to seek our intervention as we have been giving them continuous support. And it is even more important to render them support in such unprecedented times,” said Karchung, the Dzongkhag Agriculture Officer in Haa.
For now, the Dzongkhag is closely working with the Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) to facilitate the farmers find a market. Haa Dzongkhag is expecting to produce over 200 tonnes of carrots this year.
“According to records with us, farmers were able to sell over 70 tonnes of carrots to private vendors. Private vendors came here to purchase carrots,” he added.
Moreover, the FCB also helped them export over 1.2 tonnes of carrots last week. FCB officials said today there is no demand for carrots from India so farmers are advised not to harvest their carrots without prior notice from the FCB.
However, waiting for prior notice from the FCB is not an option for them. They are in a race against time as their carrots are going worthless each passing day. And without a proper storage facility, the harvested carrots are already turning into feed for cattle.
Namgay Wangchuk, Haa
Edited by Sonam
