For farmers in upper Tshangchutham, the problem was never the absence of water. A river flowed below their village, but the steep terrain separating it from their fields meant that much of the farmland continued to depend on rainfall.
A newly installed solar-powered irrigation system is now changing that equation by pumping water uphill from the river and supplying it to farms in the village.
Located in Phuentshothang Gewog, upper Tshangchutham has traditionally relied heavily on rainwater for cultivation. The new system is expected to provide farmers with a more dependable source of irrigation, particularly when rainfall is inadequate.
The project uses a 22-kilowatt solar-powered pumping system to lift water about 45 metres over a distance of 442 metres. The water is collected in a reservoir with a storage capacity of 1,000 cubic metres before being distributed to the fields.
“We have the sump capacity of 1,000 cubic meters of water storage and solar capacity of 22-kilowatt and water will be lifted to a height of 45 meters and a length of 442 meters,” said Hari Suberi, community coordinator of upper Tshangchutham.
Around 120 acres of farmland belonging to approximately 40 households are expected to benefit from the irrigation facility.
For the community, the system addresses a longstanding geographical challenge. Although water was available in the river, getting it to farmland situated considerably higher had remained difficult.
“Tshangchutham is located on a hill, with the river running below. Bringing water up to the fields was difficult. This system offers the community a practical solution,” said Yam Bahadur Adhikari, Phuentshothang Tshogpa.
Farmers say the additional water supply could help them better plan their cultivation and reduce some of the uncertainty caused by dependence on rainfall.
“We did not have enough water for farming before. This is the first system of its kind in our community, and we hope it will make a difference,” said farmer Kharka Bahadur Tiwari.
Water shortages have particularly affected paddy cultivation, where timely availability of irrigation is important during the planting season. With a more reliable supply, some farmers are also considering extending cultivation beyond the traditional growing period.
“When water was scarce, we could not plant paddy on time. We hope this system will give us a more reliable supply. We are planning to grow vegetables in winter,” farmer Tulsi Ram Regmi said.
The irrigation project cost more than Nu 4 million and was funded through the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme. The community implemented the project in collaboration with local government authorities, while the State Mining Corporation Limited provided excavation machinery as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.
The solar-powered system gives the village an alternative source of irrigation during periods of insufficient rainfall without requiring conventional electricity to lift water from the river.
Its impact, however, will ultimately depend on the reliability of the infrastructure, the management and distribution of water among households, and arrangements for maintaining the system over the years.
For Tshangchutham’s farmers, the immediate change is simpler: the river that had long flowed below their fields is finally becoming a usable source of water for the farms above.
