Some villagers of Dekiling-Tsangkhar chiwog in Trashigang’s Radhi Gewog will no longer have to guard their paddy fields from wild animals. Nearly 5-kilometre chain-link fencing, enclosing over 80 acres of land, was inaugurated recently.
Dekiling-Tsangkhar is the first chiwog in Radhi Gewog to get chain-link fencing.
Farmers here grow three varieties of paddy, locally known as Sorbang, red rice and Sung Sung rice. Farmers resorted to solar fencing and makeshift huts to guard their fields, yet they continued to lose their crops to wild animals.
The newly installed chainlink fencing in Dekiling-Tsangkhar chiwog is set to change this despairing narrative.
“In the past, our fields used to produce good yields, allowing us to harvest around 2,000 kilograms of rice every season. However, wild animals and an inadequate water supply started affecting the yield. But now with the installation of fencing, I think the production will increase,” said Dorji Chezom, Resident, Dekiling, Radhi Gewog, Trashigang.
“After working day and night, guarding crops and monitoring irrigation water supply, we end up losing our crops to wild animals just when it is about time to harvest. Production would decrease by 60-70 per cent. But from this year, with the fencing, we have not seen wild animals damaging our paddy,” said Tashi Wangdi, Resident, Dekiling, Radhi Gewog, Trashigang.
The construction of the fencing began toward the end of last year, and it was completed this month with respective landowners contributing labour.
The fencing worth Nu 5.6 M will benefit 40 households in the chiwog.
In the first phase, a total of 17 kilometres of chain-link fencing will be constructed in Trashigang, benefiting around 150 households of Lumang, Kangpar, and Radhi gewogs.
The Government of India is funding the project, worth Nu 27 M.
Farmers in Radhi Gewog cultivate paddy on more than 800 acres of land and produce about 1,865 metric tonnes of rice annually. The new fencing is expected to further boost production.
Sonam Darjay, Trashigang
Edited by Phub Gyem
