With border closed amid the pandemic, the Bongteri Vegetable Group in Dewathang have not been able to extract mustard oil for about two years now. The lack of an oil extraction machine left the farmers with no other choice than to visit the nearby Indian bordering town to extract oil. But thanks to the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, they will now be able to resume producing mustard oil. The initiative, a CSO installed the oil extraction machine earlier this month.
The easy availability of imported oil and labour intensive traditional method of oil extraction discouraged farmers to cultivate mustard. However, after more than a decade, the Bongteri Vegetable Group with twelve members started cultivating mustard and producing oil in 2017.
“With the cost of edible oil increasing, we decided to produce oil for own consumption. I have been staying here for about 15 years and I have not seen people here cultivating mustard. It’s only been about two to three years since we started cultivating mustard,” said Karma, a member of the group.
“For a litre of oil, it used to cost about Nu 10 to 50. But with lockdowns amid the pandemic, the price increased to Nu 120 Ngultrum per litre. So, we started this initiative to be self-sufficient,” said Karma Tenzin, another member.
The group produces more than 300 to 400 litres of mustard oil in a year.
Cooking oil is a heavily imported commodity in the country apart from rice, meat and dairy product among others. As per the Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited, the country imported more than Nu 250 M worth of edible oil last year.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Sonam Pem
