A windstorm on Sunday afternoon damaged over 12 acres of maize plants in Tsaenkhar Gewog of Lhuentse.
A team from Gewog Administration comprising of the Gup, Tshogpa and Gewog Agriculture Extension Officer visited the affected areas to assess the extent of damage yesterday.
The windstorm flattened maize plants belonging to 54 households. The affected farmers said they were expecting a bountiful harvest this forthcoming harvest season but now their hopes have ripped away.
Farmers are looking forward for a crop compensation but Tsaenkhar Gup Tsheten Wangdi said this is unlikely since till date there has been no system of compensation for crop damages due to natural calamities.
“We submitted the assessment report of those severely affected areas to the Department of Disaster Management and the Dzongkhag Administration. For rest, the gewog has decided to supply maize seeds,” added the gup.
Maize is the main cash crop for villagers in Tsaenkhar.