To supplement Karma Feeds in producing adequate animal feed, two individuals in Tshanglajong village in Zhemgang will be producing organic and nutritional maize on mass beginning this year. They said the largest animal feed manufacturing firm in the country has not been able to meet the required production for the past few years due to a shortage of maize which is the main ingredient for feed production.
Reviving 14 acres of land that have been left fallow for decades, two men from Tshanglajong started growing maize some three months ago.
They are the first in the village to grow corn on mass. With the field sprouting with lush green corn, they are already looking forward to a promising yield.
With the field enclosed with electric fencing to protect the crop from wild animals, they are hopeful of reaping 95 per cent of the produce. They said Karma Feeds has agreed to buy the crop from them for Nu 26 per kilogram.
“We will supply it through the agents. The crop will be ready for harvest by the sixth month of the Bhutanese lunar calendar. Moreover, we will be able to cultivate it twice a year; both during the summer and winter. We are expecting to harvest between 15 to 16 tonnes from each acre of land,” said Norbu who is coordinating the mass cultivation.
Currently, the two of them piloting the farming. If it becomes a success, other farmers in the village also plan to follow suit.
“If it is successful, I am sure others in the village will also try cultivating the crop. We will be setting a good trend for them,” said Norbu.
Norbu and his partner invested more than Nu 400,000 to cultivate the crop. And they are expecting to harvest more than 200 tonnes (200,000 KGs) of corn this season.
Karma Feeds uses about 18,000 tonnes of maize annually to produce poultry, pig and cattle feeds. As the production of maize within the country is not enough to produce the required animal feed, the company imports maize from India.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
Edited by Phub Gyem
