Agriculture in highland areas has been a challenge due to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change, but the Gasa District has found a solution to encourage agriculture among its villagers in the highlands.
The agriculture season in Gasa’s Laya Gewog is short, extending from May to September, which limits the supply of fresh vegetables during the winter season.
To address this issue, Gasa introduced an improvised technology called the sunken bed method in 2020, which has been successful in providing a conducive environment for vegetable cultivation in highlands such as Laya.
Choeki Wangchuk, the assistant district agriculture officer in Gasa, explains that the sunken bed method, an improvised technology introduced in 2020, has been successful in providing a conducive environment for vegetable cultivation in highlands such as Laya.
“When we cultivate vegetables during winter in sunken beds, the plastic conserves the heat and ultimately keeps the water in sunken bed intact in the soil. This helps the vegetables grow properly during winter,” he added.
Tsheltrim Dorji, the senior agriculture extension supervisor of Laya Gewog said the sunken bed technology is seven meters in length, three meters in width, and one and a half meters in depth.
“During winter, a favourable temperature is maintained in the sunken bed for vegetables such as spinach to grow. With this help, we get around 40 bundles of spinach during winters,” added Tsheltrim.
Pemba Tshering, a farmer from Laya Gewog’s Lubcha, expresses his gratitude towards this initiative.
“Before, we could not grow any leafy green vegetables during winter. But after the Dzongkhag provided us with this technology, we now get to eat vegetables that we used to get only in summer,” he said.
“We can now grow spinach, onions, and other preferred vegetables,” added Pemba.
The success of this initiative has revived agriculture practices in highland places like Laya, and the agriculture sector in Gasa plans to implement this technology in places further than Laya.
Tshewang, the Laya Gup said, “The sunken bed technology has been really beneficial. During the winters, we could not get any vegetables in the past.”
Thinley Dema, a farmer from Pazhi adds that the sunken bed technology has really benefitted them.
“With this, we can now grow vegetables during winter as well. This has really been helpful for the people in Laya. We are very thankful,” said Thinley.
The sunken bed technology has not only revived agriculture practices in highland places but also ensured the availability of fresh vegetables during the winter season.
Kesang Wangmo, Gasa
Edited by Sherub Dorji
