The formal Handing-taking of the Wamakhar dryland irrigation scheme was held today, 2nd September 2021 at Wamakhar chiwog under Chali gewog, Mongar.

People of Wamakhar has been challenged with water shortage for winter vegetable for ages. As a result, most of the cultivable lands remained fallow in lean season despite the suitable weather conditions and topography.

Therefore, dryland irrigation scheme was constructed as a solution to address the issue. With the fund support from CARLEP-IFAD, and technical support from the gewog and Dzongkhag agriculture sector, the construction of the irrigation scheme began on July 2021 and completed on Mid of August, 2021. The construction took 50 days to complete. The Wamakhar dryland irrigation has a coverage of 72 acres benefiting 46HHs (F:3 M:43) of Wamakhar village, and it’s expected to help address water shortage for irrigation thereby enabling farmers to cultivate winter vegetable on a commercial scale.

Wamakhar dryland irrigation was constructed at the cost of Nu.2.5M excluding labour and raw material contribution from beneficiaries. The fund support was used for purchasing HDPE pipe, Cement, and fitting material, while the beneficiary contributed labour, and locally available raw material such as gravel, sand, and stone.

The dryland irrigation has a length of 5.8KM from source to reservoir tank. The dryland irrigation system includes a water reservoir tank (6*4*2.5m), 4 smaller tanks and 7 pressure controller tank, with water distribution network. The water was tapped using a 63mm HDPE pipe from the water source (Threwan chhu) to the reservoir tank. The water from reservoir tank to 4 sub-tanks were distributed using 54mm, and sub-tanks to pressure controller tanks using 30mm HDPE pipe. A well-distributed piped network using HDPE pipe 25 mm was used for the distribution of water from pressure controller tanks to every individual household.

The construction of the irrigation scheme will not only address the water shortage but also encourage farmers to expand cultivation area for higher production and better returns from the agricultural produces.

Aside agriculture, the dryland irrigation will help irrigate orchards as well as serve for drinking purpose and livestock management. Unlike in the past, the farmers no longer worry about the water shortage in winter and anticipates for winter vegetable cultivation. Farmers hopes for better income from the winter vegetables from this year.

Reported by: Chhimi Lhamo, GKMO,OPM,CARLEP