The people of Menchhuna village in Dagana are busy these days working on their fields. But instead of cultivating crops, they are trying to improve about 50 acres of farmland. The land is located on a steep slope and because of that, people say it is difficult to work on it.
People from about 30 households are engaged in the project. They are trying to make terraces on the land and make them fit for cultivation.
People say normally, all the nutrients and manure gets washed away from the soil whenever it rains.
Moreover, they say they have to use oxen since it is not possible to use power tillers to plough the land.
“The land is on a steep slope. Besides being uncultivable, it has a lot of stones. We also can’t use machinery on the land,” said Pasang Dorji. “Every year, about ten centimetres of the soil gets washed away.”
“Every time it rains, no matter how much manure we put on the land, all of it gets washed away,” said Karma Zangmo. She added because of that, the production also isn’t that good.
Tshering Tashi says the people are hopeful of the project. “We think what we are doing will not only make the lands favourable for farming, but it will also make the village look beautiful. And working on the land will also become easier,” he said.
The project worth Nu 6 M was funded by the Green Climate Fund and coordinated by the Dzongkhag Agriculture Sector.
Kinley Namgay, the assistant Dzongkhag Agriculture Officer of Dagana said they are planning to carry out land management activities on about 190 acres of land in Dagana.
“To encourage the people with this work, we are paying them Nu 5,000 for every acre they have worked on,” he said.
Similar projects will be conducted in Punakha, Wangdue, Tsirang, Sarpang, Samtse, Trongsa and Zhemgang.
Karma Wangdi, Dagana
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
