After struggling for two years without a market, farmers in Pema Gatshel could finally sell their ginger harvest this year. The Food Corporation of Bhutan is buying the harvest from the farmers through the ginger buyback scheme.
Without any market amid the pandemic, the farmers had to leave the harvest in the ground until the corporation began collecting from the gewogs on Sunday.
The FCB started buying ginger through the buyback scheme from last year. But the farmers in Pema Gatshel could not sell the harvest as they had to transport the harvest till Samdrup Jongkhar which was costly.
“We could not sell the harvest for two years. So, we are happy that we can sell it this time although there is not much profit,” said Kencho Wangdi, a farmer in Yurung Gewog.
However, the farmers are not happy with the price. They said the income from the sale of ginger this time can barely meet the expenditure incurred in cultivating the crop and transporting the harvest till Nangkor in Shumar Gewog. The corporation pays between Nu 20 to 30 per kilogram depending on the size.
“We don’t have anywhere to sell the produce than to the FCB. Despite working so hard to grow the crop, the price is not so rewarding. They don’t pay us a good price even for the larger sized ginger,” said Jangchub Thinley, a farmer.
“We had to store ginger in the ground after harvesting for the last two to three years and some rot in the process leaving us discouraged to continue growing the crop. Moreover, the price is also less this time. Despite that we are selling it to the FCB because it is better than to let the harvest rot,” said Kencho Wangdi, another farmer.
The corporation collected the harvest from two gewogs of Khar and Yurung so far. The collection will continue till the end of this month.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
