The owner of the lone mega greenhouse in Lhamoi Dzingkha Gewog in Dagana is struggling with pest infestation. Although the owner grows three varieties of vegetables in the greenhouse, he said the pest infestation is affecting the production. The mega greenhouse was constructed using materials of a collapsed greenhouse in Karmaling Gewog in Lhamoi Dzingkha Dungkhag.
59-year-old Jangchub Dorji and his family have been growing vegetables in a small greenhouse. He said villagers in Chongsamling Chiwog in Lhamoi Dzingkha Gewog used greenhouses to grow seedlings in the past.
However, the narrative changed after establishing the mega greenhouse. Jangchub and his family started growing more vegetables in the mega greenhouse. They planted the vegetables in September last year.
Today, they grow chilli and tomato in the mega greenhouse spanning across a 60-decimal land.
However, pest infestation has been one of the main issues so far.
“We have been facing some troubles recently because of pests. We are hoping that the pest infestation will subside. We used to grow chillies in my small greenhouse, even during winter. But this mega greenhouse is new and I am hoping it will help me grow chillies in the coming winter,” said Jangchub Dorji.
Jangchub’s daughter-in-law, Dawa Zangmo who helps him on the farm said that pest infestation is an additional challenge to the existing issue of having to compete with the imported produce.
“We do not use any chemicals in the greenhouse and the vegetables get infested by pests. We are already facing pest infestation and on top of that, we also have to face market issues such as competing with produce from India. When we first sold chillies, we sold them at Nu 110. Now that it is everywhere, we sell at Nu 100. For tomato, it is only Nu 25 per kilogramme and when there is produce from India, we also have to compete with that.”
Although the family has no plans to experiment the cultivation of any new vegetables in the mega greenhouse for now, they are hoping to resolve the pest infestation issue.
Furthermore, as instructed by the agriculture officials, the family also tried a few methods such as lighting a bulb and hanging a glue sheet to divert the insects which they added were not effective.
Devika Pradhan
Edited by Tshering Zam
