Mountain Hazelnut Venture

« The remanent of a plant after a deer nibbled at its leaves and steam
Usual culprits, wild boar and deer, threaten to scuttle the project
Mountain Hazelnut Venture Barely three months since villagers in Kanglung sowed the hazelnut seeds in Kanglung gewog, deer and wild boar have begun decimating them.

Some of the villages under the gewog identified for the plantation, like Serthi, Yonphupam and Dopung, that were considered climes of cooler temperature, higher in terms of altitude and uncultivated, best suited for the hazel plant to thrive.

Fear has gripped the villagers, who partook in the plantation of the plant, of their being unable to see the plants bear nuts in next two years should the destruction spree continue.

While deer feed on the leaves and stems of the hazelnut plant, wild boars are known to dig up the soil and uproot the plant, as they do with every other crop in the villages.

A farmer in Selthi, Gembo, who received about 143 seedlings, said seven of them were completely destroyed.

“They couldn’t do much damage because I used barbedwire to fence the field and grew bushes to cover the plant,” he said. “But it’s apparent they’ll return until these plants are no more.”

Wild boar, he said, dug holes below the barbed wire fence to enter the field, while deer jump that height with ease.

Village tshogpa Deki said a few villagers complained about issue to the mountain hazelnut venture, a private company based in Hong Kong through its representative in Mongar on November 12.

Deki said the only immediate solution villagers could think of was erecting retention walls.

“But this is too expensive for farmers,” she said. “Which is why farmers request the company to help them build such a wall.”
The company’s regional coordinator in Mongar, Kadola, fears the company many not be able to help farmers financially, but could recommend Bhutan Development Bank to grant them loans.

“But the hazelnut plants at the nursery in Mongar showed leaves grow back even after being eaten by an animal,” he said.
The program to begin a hazelnut plantation project in the country was supported through foreign direct investment venture under agriculture ministry to uplift eastern farmers’s economic gains.

Agriculture extension officer in Kanglung said hazelnut was first planted in Yonphula village to see the altitude adaptability.
“It was a success and then company decided to help farmers grow the hazelnut,” she said. “The fruits have started germinating, which means hazelnut is well adapted to this land.”

One of the conditions was that the hazelnut should be sold to the same foreign company providing the seedlings and promoting the project in the east, which in a way, agriculture officials said was, securing a market for the product.

“The company supplied the seedlings and training on how to plant them,” agriculture officials said.

Kadola said villagers will grow hazelnut plant, which once it bears fruit, the company will buy them for Nu 14 a kilogram, equivalent to US 30 cents, conforming to international market rates.

“The returns will go to the villagers,” Kadola said. “The price value will depend on the international market.”

Kadola said the company, which will value add to the nut to in turn export the finer product to European and American markets.
About 16 households in Kanglung gewog took part in planting hazelnut about three months back.

Each household was distributed between 100 and 200 hazelnut seedling determined by their landholdings.

Kadola said, to begin with, farmers were given female plants for this first year before introducing the male hazelnut plants sometime next year, to be able to bear fruits the following year.

“Then plants will bear fruits after two years,” he said.

He said the project’s plan was to help identified villages of the six eastern dzongkhags through plantation of about 10M hazelnut plants.
“For this about 25,000 acres of land has already been acquired through farmers,” he said. “The trees will bear fruits for 60 years out of its 100 years life expectancy.”

The plants were flown from China to Lingmithang, Mongar.

“The plants which were being distributed for free would normally cost the villagers about Nu 200 a plant,” Kadola said.

The villagers have entered into a contract term of 10 years with the company following which they can continue or drop the project.
Should villagers decide to discontinue in future, Kadola said, the condition was that they should at least sell whatever fruit the remaining plants bore to the company.

Since not all required 25,000-acre land were available in eastern Bhutan, Kadola said, the program would expand to Bumthang and Zhemgang.
Around 164,955 hazelnut saplings have been planted on over 959 acres of land in the five eastern dzongkhags so far.

Source: kuenselonline