In rural pockets of the country, successful farming is crucial for economic prosperity. But this has never been realised by farmers of Sangbay Gewog in Haa since decades ago. The lack of irrigation facilities impeded them from taking up commercial farming. However, this problem is likely to be solved now as farmers received a reliable irrigation water supply under the DeSuung National Service Water Project.
Twelve households of Shaba village under Sangbay Gewog say the irrigation water supply, which they received a week ago, has given them a new lease on life.
They now look forward to taking up commercial farming on a large scale and spurring their incomes.
Earlier, such farming endeavours remained unfulfilled despite favourable weather conditions. According to the farmers, rice cultivation over the years decreased from 20 to eight acres.
And this was largely due to the erratic irrigation water sourced from the nearby stream.
“Earlier, we had an acute water shortage, especially during the paddy cultivation season. Those were days of hardship. Now, we are so grateful that we received reliable water as a gift from the throne. We are hoping to grow paddy in the future,” tells one of the farmers in Shaba village, Nim Dem.
Her farming mates are also planning to revive deserted agricultural lands this upcoming farming season.
“To date, we have not been able to grow vegetables in abundance since we didn’t have enough water. Now, things are looking promising and we hope to grow all the vegetables,” continues another farmer in the village, Tashi Dorji.
Shaba village falls under Anakha _Shepji chiwog, so the Tshogpa hopes to bring villagers together to achieve food security.
“We have many cultivable lands, which are left fallow due to shortage of water. Now with this project, we will revive all fallow lands and put them to use. We also face inadequate drinking water, which is only sufficient during summer and otherwise in the winter. All these problems will be solved now,” says Tshogpa Rinzing Gyeltshen.
The 10-month-long integrated irrigation project, commenced in January this year. More than Nu 7 M project was successfully completed under the Flagship National Water Programme by about 40 DeSuups through the DeSuung National Service Water Project.
The reservoir has a water storage capacity of over 150,000 litres.
Such irrigation facilities are timely with climate change becoming more evident on agricultural communities across the world.
Namgay Wangchuk, Haa
Edited by Pema Lhaden
