RENUKA RAI | Thimphu
For more than ten years, combine harvesters have become a familiar sight in Paro’s paddy fields. The large machines move across the golden terraces every harvest season, finishing in a few hours what used to take weeks of tiring manual labour.
For farmers in Paro, the machines have now become an important part of their annual routine. But for many farmers in other parts of the country, especially in Samtse, Zhemgang and Samdrupjongkhar, the situation remains very different. They say that they still depend mostly on traditional harvesting methods, which take time, require more people and often lead to crop losses.
In Samtse’s Norgaygang gewog, the paddy fields stretch across the village, turning gold as the harvest season arrives. But instead of machines, farmers here still use sickles and small tools, relying heavily on family members and neighbours to finish the work.
Sangay Dorji, a 62-year-old farmer who has worked in the fields his entire life, said that the biggest worry is always labour shortage. Most young people leave the village for work in towns, and only older farmers are left behind.
He explained that in the past, harvesting was easier because there were many people in the village. Today, he said, “We hardly find workers, and even if we find them, the wages are very high. When the crop is ready, we cannot wait for too long.
If it rains early, the paddy falls and rots.” He added “The machines finish everything so quickly,” he said. “Meanwhile, we take weeks. We lose so much time, and sometimes we lose half the crop because we cannot finish on time.”
Not far from Norgaygang, in Norbugang, 38-year-old farmer Karma Lhendup shared the same concern. Standing beside his yellowing paddy field, he pointed at patches already bent by the weight of the grain and the recent rain. He said that wildlife is a serious problem in their area.
“If we take even one or two days extra, the wild boars come and destroy the whole field. Monkeys also come and pluck the paddy. When we hear that other places have machines, we feel left out.”
Karma said that combine harvesters could help reduce their losses and make harvesting much faster. He believes Samtse, being one of the main paddy-growing districts in the country, must also be given equal access to machines.
“We farm with so much hope every year, but we always worry about the harvest. The harvest season is the most stressful time for us,” he said.
In another part of the country, in Thrisa village under Shingkhar Gewog in Zhemgang, farmers face different challenges. The terraces here are long, narrow and carved along the hillside. The farmers grow paddy varieties with long straw. These conditions make it difficult for large machines to operate.
Yet, even with these challenges, farmers say they too need mechanisation support because manual harvesting is becoming harder every year.
Forty-five-year-old farmer Pem Dema said that the land in Thrisa is not as wide as the fields in Paro, but the farmers put in the same hard work.
“We also want machines,” she said. “Maybe not big combines, but smaller machines that can at least reduce our effort.” She said that farmers in Thrisa spend many days harvesting. Many of the elders complain of back pain, body aches and exhaustion after every harvest season.
Pem explained that when officials say combine harvesters cannot be used in their land, on one hand, the farmers understand it, but on the other hand, they feel left without options.
“Just because our land is narrow and our paddy has long straw, it should not mean we get no support at all,” she said. “There must be a way to bring in smaller machines, even if the big ones cannot be used here.”
Further east, in Phuntshothang, Samdrupjongkhar, some farmers do receive services from combine harvesters, but only a limited number of machines are available. The demand in the area is far greater than the supply.
According to the farmers, the machines usually reach only a few households each season because they need to move from village to village, and delays are common.
Karma Tobgay, a 50-year-old farmer from Phuntshothang, said that he has been able to use a combine harvester twice. The first time, it arrived early, and the harvest was smooth.
“Everything was finished in a single day,” he said. “We didn’t have to worry about rain or labour at all.” The second time, however, the machine came after many days because it was working in another village. By then, some of his crop had already begun to shed grains. He said that the harvest was not as good as the first year.
Karma said that more machines in Samdrupjongkhar would help many farmers who now face labour shortages. “The machine is a big help. But we need more of them. One or two machines cannot cover all the villages on time,” he said.
The Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Yonten Phuntsho during the meet the press session on 28 November said that agriculture across Bhutan is becoming more feminised and that the farmer population is ageing. Because of this, mechanisation has become more important than ever.
Lyonpo said, “The government has been working closely with the Farm Machinery Corporation Limited (FMCL) to provide combine harvesters to paddy-growing areas in the country.”
Lyonpo also pointed out that FMCL recently procured 20 new combine harvesters to strengthen mechanisation
However, the Lyonpo explained that deploying combine harvesters is not always easy. The machines work best on large terraces and with short-straw paddy varieties.
In many places, including Zhemgang, long-straw varieties are grown, which are difficult to thresh using large machines. Some places also lack proper motor roads, making it hard to bring the machines to the fields.
Lyonpo said that Paro has the highest number of machines because the demand is very high and the land is suitable. At present, there are 31 combine harvesters in Paro, while Bumthang and Punakha each have two.
A few machines also provide services in Thimphu and Phuntshothang. Lyonpo added that the demand for these machines is mostly seasonal. For the rest of the year, they remain idle, which is why FMCL has to consider the economic side before expanding services to other dzongkhags.
The minister also said that Bhutan’s current fiscal situation does not allow heavy investments in machines that are used only for a short period each year. Because of this, the ministry encourages both FMCL and the private sector to take up harvesting services. Private groups, cooperatives or individuals who can rent machines to farmers may be able to fill the service gaps in the future.
Even with these explanations, farmers across the country say that they are hopeful the new machines will be distributed more widely. Many say that combine harvesters are no longer something that only certain districts should receive. They believe that equal access to such machines will help protect the country’s rice production, especially as climate patterns become unpredictable.
In Samtse, 29-year-old farmer Karma Tshering from Khanduthang said that more young Bhutanese may return to farming if modern tools become available. He said, “If we want to attract youth into agriculture, we must give them modern machines. No young person wants to spend weeks harvesting by hand. If we have machines, we can grow more rice and also earn more.”
In Thrisa, 70-year-old Tshering Wangmo said that as farmers grow older, they cannot depend on physical strength alone. She said that community-owned machines or small harvesters could make a big difference.“If the government can help us with smaller machines, we can manage,” she said.
In Samdrupjongkhar, farmer Pema Dorji said that even though machines come late sometimes, they have already seen how much they can help. “When the machine comes, we finish quickly and worry less,” he said. “If we get more machines, all of us can benefit.”
Across all these dzongkhags, farmers share the same wish: to harvest their crops on time, reduce losses and ease their workload. Many say that seeing the machines in Paro gives them hope that one day they too will have easier harvests.
