Phurpa Lhamo | Wangdue

Farmers of Sephu gewog in Wangduephodrang do not spend sleepless nights in the fields guarding their crops from wild animals anymore.

Farmers say electric fencing has made farming easier.

Nim Pelmo, 56, said three years ago, they spent most of their days and nights guarding the fields. Unlike in the past, she can now constantly visit her daughter in Bajo, Wangdue.

In Sephu she owns an acre of dry land. “We don’t have to guard the fields now.”

Farmers grow potatoes and cabbages in large scale in the gewog.

Electric fencing was first introduced in Rukhubji chiwog in 2016. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) funded electric fencing for 30 acres of land on trial basis. The same year, National Plant Protection Centre (NPPC) also fenced about 18 acres land in Nakha chiwog.

Following the success in the two chiwogs, farmers took up electric fencing.

Sephu’s agriculture extension officer, Karma Jurmi, said farmers didn’t wait for government support and installed electric fences at their own expenses.

Wild boars, deer, and monkeys are common in the gewog.

Today, more farmers are taking up farming as global pandemic affected cordyceps marketing.

The gewog has allocated Nu 600,000 to maintain electric fences in three chiwogs of Rukhubji, Nakha and Busa.

Karma Jurmi said people in Nakha and Busa would receive electric fencing as their land are close to each other. “People of Nakha chiwog depended on cordyceps until now and the Covid-19 pandemic has affected them. They are willing to take up farming.”

In Rukhubji, as almost all households have installed electric fences, farmers requested for energiser, which would regulate electricity supply of the fences.