It was only a few years ago when the residents of Chungkha village at Bongo Gewog in Chhukha found a source of additional income in growing maize on a large scale. In the past two years, it has become a lucrative business and almost everyone in the village started maize cultivation. But their newfound passion to grow maize for some extra cash has met with a challenge soon after. According to the residents, human-wildlife conflict is threatening the maize-growing business.
People in Chungkha cultivate maize for commercial purposes.
Residents here say although they have been growing maize in the past, it has been only a few years since they started cultivating it on a larger scale. And they did that after realizing that the crop can earn them a good income.
“If we can work, maize cultivation is good and even the harvest is better here. I took the maize harvest to Thimphu four times in my bolero which earned about Nu 24,000. I still have half of my maize harvest. Earlier people did not have the idea of selling it. Now knowing its value, people are working harder,” said Tshetim, a resident.
People here mostly take the crop to Thimphu while some sell directly to a few buyers who then take it to Thimphu.
As good a source of income as the crop may be, it has become a challenge for the farmers to guard maize from wild animals, mostly monkeys.
Tashi Dorji, who cultivated the crop with the hope to make some money, lost all his maize to monkeys this year.
“People here started cultivating maize in huge quantities in the past two years. But cultivating maize is difficult because monkeys damage all the crops. We can fetch good money by selling maize but it’s almost of no use. There are hundreds of monkeys. And we cannot guard the crop from them all the time,” said Tashi Dorji, a resident.
“I earn about Nu 40,000 to 50,000 from selling maize. This time bear also damaged the crop. Wild boars also come but monkeys are the worst. They come in huge groups,” said Seyri, another resident.
He said it is disheartening to lose half the harvest to animals after all the hard work they put in into growing the crop.
Gewog officials are aware of the issue but said they are helpless as even electric fencing cannot prevent the monkeys from entering the fields.
Also, the officials said settlements in Chungkha are scattered and therefore it is difficult to give electric fences as it would lead to huge costs.
This leaves the farmers without any option but to guard the crops themselves until a solution is found.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Phub Gyem
