More farmers in Dangreygang chiwog of Semjong Gewog in Tsirang are taking up agriculture and livestock farming starting this year. All thanks to the De-Suung National Service for gifting the chiwog with the country’s biggest integrated water supply scheme. The project was handed over to the chiwog towards the end of November last year.
Usually, by this time of the year, farmers of Dangreygang chiwog would go anxious not having enough water to irrigate their vegetable fields. But now that is a thing of the past.
The integrated water supply scheme can irrigate around 200 acres of dry land belonging to more than 570 farmers in the chiwog. The scheme can also supply drinking water to more than 70 households in the chiwog.
With the new water supply scheme, the farmers are also provided with equipment for drip and sprinkler irrigation systems for efficient usage of water.
Drip irrigation is known to be the most efficient nutrient and water delivery system for growing crops. Sprinkler irrigation is a method of irrigating fields similarly to rainfall. The farmers said farming became a lot easier after they received the new scheme.
“The advantage of drip irrigation is that there is an automatic outflow of water after every two to three hours. For sprinklers, we just have to shift locations to irrigate the fields. The advanced irrigation scheme has also made farming less laborious; even a few people can do farming in a large field,” said Bal Bdr. Tamang, a farmer of Drangreygang.
“Most vegetables grow well in winter. But we couldn’t grow vegetables as we faced water shortage even for drinking purposes. Moreover, until now, I used to grow vegetables only on an acre of land. But these days I grow on four acres of land. The integrated water supply scheme has benefited us immensely,” said Ganesh Kumar Jogi, another farmer.
Now with water available abundantly, some farmers have even started to revive fallow land and venture into mass vegetable production.
Leela Baldhab leased this five-acre land which has been left fallow for many years to cultivate vegetables on a large scale.
“With a reliable water supply in the area, I decided to lease the land for ten years. I have cleared all bushes for mass vegetable production. This time, I am growing onion, chilli, cabbage and ginger.”
Similarly, the scheme has also encouraged the Gewog agriculture extension office to help the farmers grow crops. The office already provided the farmers with advanced farming equipment like greenhouses, improved seeds and drip irrigation sets.
“We have encouraged farmers in the chiwog to grow vegetables but due to water scarcity, not many could grow vegetables in the past. But after receiving the water supply scheme, farmers in the chiwog can grow vegetables just like other farmers in the gewog,” said Namgay, agriculture extension supervisor of Semjong Gewog.
The benefits of the new integrated water supply scheme do not end here. The reliable water supply has also encouraged some farmers to practice livestock farming and helped some extend the existing farms.
Dangreygang chiwog’s road to development seems clear for now as the De-Suung National Service Water Project brings an end to the long-standing water scarcity facing the chiwog’s residents.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
