Soon, farmers of Phuyangshod in Yallang Gewog, Trashi Yangste will be able to harvest all their farm produce without spending sleepless nights guarding their crops against wild animal attacks.
They are enclosing their fields with barbed wire fencing which is expected to be complete by May.
Owing to favourable weather conditions, the farmers of Yallang and Phuyang villages mostly grow green chilli which is one of their main sources of income. Besides, they cultivate vegetables, watermelon and paddy. However, due to a lack of proper fencing, they have been losing their crops to wild animals.
The farmers even resorted to using bamboo and wooden fence, and green net fencing to keep the wild animals at bay. But none of these helped.
“In the past, we didn’t have fencing. We used trees and bushes to fence our crop but that did not help. Wild animals including deer and wild boar destroyed our crop. I hope the new fencing will benefit us,” said Gyempo, in Phuyang village.
“We thought of requesting electric fencing but we don’t have a power supply here. The barbed wire fencing is enclosing the entire area, so we hope it will benefit us. We are also planning to cultivate more crops hereafter,” said Pema Dorji, also from Phuyang.
Dorji Peldon, another resident of the village said they have found a permanent solution to the wild animal attacks on crops. “This fencing will last around 10-15 years without requiring any maintenance whereas with the electric fencing we have to do yearly maintenance.”
The gewog provided material support worth Nu 1.5 M while the farmers contributed a certain amount to purchase cement and labour.
The fencing will protect about 45 acres of land belonging to more than 60 households in Yallang and Phuyang villages.
Sonam Darjay, Trashi Yangtse
Edited by Phub Gyem
