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Bhutan's Economy Agriculture |
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Bhutan Information |
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Trashigang:
Chili production - Red and dried
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| Zordung villagers pack dry chilies in sacks |
| Almost
every roof in Zordung, a village in Kangpara gewog, Trashigang, turns fiery
red at this time of the year as chilies dry in the winter sun.
Chili,
a must ingredient for the Bhutanese palate, is the main farm produce of
Kangpara and of all the villages in the gewog, Zordung, produces the most
of this essential vegetable. |
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In
Zordung, an eight-hour walk from Phekpari in Thrimshing dungkhag, more
than 60 households convert half their harvest into dry red chilies.
The
villagers do so because dry chilies had its advantages. They harvest the
crop only after it has ripened into a flaming red colour and then dry it
in the sun.
"Fresh
green chilies need to be either sold or eaten within a few days of harvest,"
said 60-year-old Tashi Lhamo. "Most of the villagers here produce their
own chilies so if we are not able to carry it to the market we cannot sell
it. By drying it we prevent it from getting spoiled."
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the end of October and beginning of November, chilies start turning red
and are dried not only on the rooftops but also on ground.
Villagers
said that from the first harvest in August and September, only about 25
percent of their harvest were sold fresh. The rest were dried.
"As
the first harvest falls during the rainy season we face a lot of problems
transporting the crop on horseback to Phekpari," said a village elder,
Kezang. From there it is taken in trucks to markets in Wamrong and Samdrup
Jongkhar. |
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"By
the time it reaches the market the damp chilies start to rot and it does
not get good prices," added Kezang. "Sometimes the horses slip on the muddy
trail soiling the crop and breaking the chillies."
In
contrast dried chilies were easier to carry and fetched better prices.
Dried chilies, for example, fetched between Nu. 80 ? Nu. 120 a kilogramme
whereas fresh chilies were sold for not more than Nu. 20 a kilogramme.
However,
making dry chilies had its own drawbacks.
"It
is risky, especially if it rains," said Tashi Lhamo. "It will destroy the
entire harvest."
She
said that drying also involved extra work and attention. "If it becomes
too dry it breaks easily," she said, adding that water was sprinkled when
it was carried in sacks to prevent extreme dryness.
Villagers
also store the dry crop as the main winter vegetable. Some also simmered
dry chilies in hot water, which turns white after it is dried, for home
consumption.
Red
dry chilies were also kept as seeds and sown several months before the
planting season. According to 70-year-old Jangchub Dorji, fresh chilies
were once in great demand in the border town of Samdrup Jongkhar. "But
later Indians across the border sowed chili seeds from Kangpara and came
up with a similar crop which was sold at a much cheaper price," he said.
Jangchub
Dorji said that this had further encouraged villagers to make more dry
chilies. While some places in Trashiyangtse also produced homegrown chilies,
he said that the timing did not coincide with the chili harvest in Kangpara.
"And
theirs cannot be made into dry chilies because it is fleshy and even if
it was dried it would not be as tasty," he said.
Kangpara
gup Chempa Dorji said that every household produced about four to five
sacks of dried chilies but most had problems transporting it to the market.
Trashigang
dzongkhag is preparing to launch about 100 sacks of red dry chilies from
the gewog in the Thimphu vegetable market from the next season to expand
the market for Kangpara's red and dried.
| This
article was contributed by Kesang Dema KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper,
2006 |
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