Apart from vegetables, Tsirang is also known for producing huge quantities of livestock products such as pork. However, residents say there is no adequate pork for sale in their own market. This is because meat shop owners from Thimphu and other nearby districts buy pork straight away from piggery farms in the district at higher prices according to Damphu meat shop operators.
Over the last few days, meat shops in Damphu town have been seeing a huge number of customers looking for meat items for Chunyipa Losar and for annual rituals. But all three meat shops selling pork in Damphu town and near Damphu Central School are out of stock and customers have seen returning home without pork. Some of them have been visiting the pork counters for several times now.
“There is a designated pork counter but we don’t get pork there. I have been looking for pork since last time itself. Our annual ritual is approaching and pork is a necessity during such rituals since we don’t use mutton and chicken,” said Sangdho, a customer.
“I came here to buy pork for Chunyipa Losar but it is not there. Pork is out of the market from last time itself and I came here once more today. Meat shop owners say pork has been out of market for almost three months now. Many customers are looking for pork,” said a customer.
Meat shops in the town say getting pork from piggery farms has become virtually impossible these days. This has left pork counters in Damphu town facing pork shortage for quite some time now. The current market price for a kilogramme of pork is Nu 400 in Damphu town.
“I used to pay Nu 350 at the farms for a kilogramme of pork. But meat vendors from Thimphu pay as high as Nu 450 ngultrum. And if we increase prices abruptly based on increased farmgate prices of pork, customers lodge complaints immediately. So we cannot increase the market price without consulting the officials concerned,” said Biren Chuwan of Mama Meat Shop in Damphu.
The district livestock officer said the district has enough pork production with more than 130 piggery farms. The district produced 473 metric tonnes of pork last year. He acknowledges the claims made by local meat shop owners saying the shortage is caused by Thimphu meat vendors buying pork straight from the farms.
He added that despite making several requests to keep adequate pork supply for local consumers, farmers still prefer selling pork to vendors from other districts at higher prices.
On the other hand, some piggery farmers said some piggery farms are not as active as in the past and the number of pigs has also been decreased. The rise in feed prices and low pork prices have discouraged piggery farmers from raising more pigs.
“The decreased pork production in the district has forced meat vendors from other districts to pay higher prices to piggery farmers. These days even active piggery farms have less number of pigs unlike in the past. It is difficult for us to feed pigs because of increased feed prices,” said Wangchuk Chuwan, a piggery farmer.
Residents are now asking relevant authorities to find a solution so that local meat vendors do not run out of pork supply while marketing to other districts is also encouraged.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Kipchu
