Farm services go to Drakteng

25 April 2009

Trongsa Dzongkhag has inaugurated its first Farmers Support Services Unit in Drakteng, which is expected to meet the increasing demand for farm machinery spare parts and repairs.

The support services unit was set up to complement the services of the four regional agriculture machinery centres (AMC) that no longer have the capacity to cater to individual farmer’s needs due to limited number of technicians.

The new strategy will develop the capacity of the communities themselves and enable them to be self-reliant.

The unit will be run by two young high school graduates part-time. The Agricultural Extension Officer backed by the dzongkhag and gup are part of the team that will monitor the efficient functioning of the unit.

The unit is expected to make the services prompt. The farmers will not have to wait for mechanics to come from the AMCs in Bajo or Bhur. Besides, they no longer will have to go to the centres to buy spare parts and tools.

The Programme Director of AMC said, “The regional centres will always be there to back-up the unit when the two young novices cannot handle certain cases,” adding that the services, however, will be provided through the service unit involving the two young technicians.

The project, which is implemented with the technical support from Strengthening Farm Mechanisation Project of Japan International Cooperation Agency, is also expected to trigger the growth of satellite urban centres in rural areas which in turn is expected to solve emerging problems like unemployment in the rural areas and rural to urban migration.

“There will be very few reasons for us to go to big urban centres if the modern amenities are in our place,” said a farmer.

The project has plans to establish such service units in other dzongkhags.

By Phuntsho Wangmo

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