The people of Serkhagphu-Yengkhartshing Chiwog of Dramedtse Gewog in Monggar are disappointed with their hazelnut production. According to the growers, they were told that the hazelnut trees would start bearing fruits after three to four years and boost their income. However, even after a decade, the trees have yet to bear fruits. There are more than 60 households that have planted hazelnut trees in the chiwog.
Almost all the farmers of Yengkhartshing village converted their cultivable land to grow hazelnut in 2012. Most of the farmers that BBS talked to say their source of income has been affected since then.
More than 11,000 households across the country have planted hazelnuts on more than 7,000 acres of land.
“We thought things would turn out to be good for us. But after the plantation, we have been left with nothing but uncertainty. We thought that the plantation would help us meet expenses for our children and secure our future without having to work hard. But we have not been able to reap any benefits from the plantation,” said Phuntsho, a farmer.
“We started the hazelnut plantation because we were told that it’s a good source of income looking at the good examples from other countries. And accordingly, we started the plantation with hope and expectation for good income prospects. But it hasn’t been up to our expectations. What started as a hopeful project has ended all our hopes. We all need a way forward,” said Pema Zangmo, a farmer.
“The hazelnut company said that the plantation will bring about greater benefits and more income. Accordingly, we started planting on the land previously used for cultivation. However, after that, it has only become a home for the wild animals and destroyed our other crops,” said Tandin, another farmer.
To ensure that hazelnut orchards grow well and produce nuts, the Mountain Hazelnuts Venture Limited carried out a grafting programme.
However, some of the farmers said that the programme was not of much help.
‘‘We worked hard as they said it would give a good production. But the production has been minimal. Those who have planted on cultivable land have been affected a lot. They came to do grafting as well thinking that it might be due to the lack of male trees. Even after grafting, there is no production,” said Chogyel Tashi, a farmer.
“After the grafting, the trees bore 10 kilograms of fruits. But because of the lockdown, I couldn’t sell anything. After the hazelnut plantation, it has only attracted wild animals, which end up destroying our other crops,” said Tshering Choden, a farmer.
“I have about 1,200 trees but it’s all empty. In the past, I used to cultivate potatoes on the land. I thought of cultivating potatoes again, but we can’t uproot the hazelnut trees. Therefore, to cultivate potatoes we would be grateful if we are provided with a machine,’’ said Dechen Choden, farmer.
Meanwhile, according to Mountain Hazelnuts Venture Limited, the issue will be addressed with the grafting programme and the introduction of new varieties.
“We would request the growers to be patient as they have already invested a considerable amount of time and effort in their orchards to date. We feel that in the next two or three years we will get around all the orchards with their grafting programme and then over time there will be orchards that become productive and the farmers who would save will harvest an income,” said Jeff Nicholls, the Chief Operations Officer of Mountain Hazelnuts Venture Limited.
Spending more than Nu 31 M, the Mountain Hazelnuts Venture Limited has completed grafting in more than 1,350 acres of land since last year.
The company exported 3.5 metric tonnes of hazelnut production at two US dollars per kilogramme this time.
Karma Wangdi, Monngar
Edited by Sonam Pem
