Without irrigation water, the farmers of Samkhar village in Trashigang have left their paddy fields fallow and some have started cultivating vegetables. Farmers said the irrigation water which is supplied using pipeline was damaged three years ago while constructing a farm road.
The farmers of the lower part of Samkhar village have been depending on the irrigation water sources located at Shashong Phangma and Sengdengdrang for their paddy cultivation.
The sources are located around two kilometres away from the village.
The irrigation water is supplied using a 450-metre pipeline and through an irrigation channel. The pipeline got damaged during a farm road construction between Samkhar and Bikhar villages.
Without irrigation water supply, a few paddy land remain fallow, while some farmers have been cultivating maize and other vegetables.
“For two to three years, we have used the water from the pipeline and it has benefitted us. But the pipeline got damaged during the farm road construction. So, we have left the fields barren. If they restore the pipeline, we will prefer cultivating paddy because we do not have that much land in the lower part,” said Ugyen Zangmo, a farmer.
“The pipes got damaged and I used my drinking water supply for vegetable cultivation. I think the irrigation water supply will benefit in cultivation of potatoes besides paddy cultivation,” said Yeshi Choden, another farmer.
According to Samkhar Gup, they could not completely restore their irrigation water supply because of delayed farm road construction and budget constraints.
He added that the gewog administration has allocated Nu 500,000 this time to buy a 1.8-kilometre pipeline for providing water supply before the paddy transplantation season starts. The gewog office also plans to restore the old pipeline.
If the work gets completed before the transplantation season, it is expected to help revive seven acres of paddy fields belonging to 25 households.
Sonam Darjay, Trashigang
Edited by Tshering Zam
