The people of Khalatsho-Arden Chiwog in Pema Gatshel depend on areca nuts for income. However, the manual husking of nuts by hand has been difficult for farmers. To make things easier and boost productivity, areca nut growers in the chiwog were provided with a de-husking machine. But due to the lack of a 3-phase electricity connection in the chiwog, the machine has been sitting idle.
In November last year, the district agriculture sector invested Nu 250,000 and procured the de-husking machine for the farmers.
“The machine requires a 3-phase electricity connection to operate and a 2-phase line is not suitable for its operation. As a result, we submitted a letter to the gewog requesting an upgrade of the electricity connection to 3-phase last year,” said Sangay Dorji, Khalatsho-Arden Tshogpa.
“We are looking forward to having a 3-phase line soon. Once the areca nut fruits turn yellow, we begin preserving them until they ripen and can be husked,” said Pema Zangmo, a farmer.
The Bhutan Power Corporation office in Pema Gatshel has proposed a budget to upgrade to a 3-phase connection. They are awaiting approval from the head office.
Meanwhile, the residents are eagerly waiting for support from the BPC to get the 3-phase line connected soon.
“It is extremely challenging to manually peel it. The pain that I experienced last year has not subsided yet. Thankfully, we now have a machine in our village and we hope it will be able to benefit us with the 3-phase connection soon. We earn more when the husk is removed from nuts,” added Pema Zangmo.
“Before, we struggled with de-husking the nuts with our hands which was tough. We are grateful to the government for providing us with the machine and we hope to further boost our productivity,” added Khalatsho-Arden Tshogpa.
The machine is expected to benefit nearly ten households in the chiwog. The chiwog produces four metric tonnes of areca nut annually.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Sonam Pem
