Four farmers of Langchenpu Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar have no paddy yield to harvest this season. About four acres of paddies died, leaving the farmers worried about how they will pull through a year without rice. These four farmers and their families depend on rice for consumption and income.
Distressed and worried, Tashi Melam, 40, is removing the withered paddy from his field. The dead paddy plants fill his fields.
In a typical year, he would be harvesting the ripe and ready for harvest paddy in these two acres of fields. He said the rice is sufficient for his family to get through until the next harvest season.
Tashi Melam said, “This year, the paddies have not grown well. I don’t know why they are dying. I have cultivated paddies over two acres of land and all of them have died now.”
The rice farmers who are affected like Tashi blame the pest called leaf folder for the damage.
Suk Bhadur Rai, a farmer said, “This type of pest has destroyed all our paddies. We work very hard to grow paddies but now everything is down the drain. I think we have to buy rice and eat now.”
“We cultivated paddy late due to lockdown and we didn’t have enough irrigation water. And then this type of pest has damaged all our paddies. The rice from our field was enough for us, we didn’t have to buy rice. But this year I think I have to work somewhere and buy rice. I have to feed my children.” added Tshering Penjor, another farmer.
The gewog agriculture extension office says late cultivation due to lockdown and lack of irrigation water affected the paddy growth and not the pest. The office is looking into providing paddy seeds for paddy cultivation.
Meanwhile, the Langchenphu Gewog administration says they plan to construct a 5 kilometre irrigation channel from Chhukarpo. And the gewog says by the paddy season, villagers will have enough irrigation water.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Sangay Chezom
