In order to provide irrigation water to farmers living in upper slopes and hilltops in Lingmutey-Chu who faced issues in accessing water in 2014, a siphon project was initiated by GWP Bhutan/Royal Society for Protection of Nature in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forest in Bhutan. Primarily the Engineering Division of the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan carried out the designing and on-ground implementation of the project along with providing in-kind contributions. GWP Bhutan who also carried out monitoring and evaluation and mobilised local community members for provision of labour financially backed this project. The main objectives of the project were:
- To increase rice yield from 1.2 tons/acre to 1.6 tons/acre;
- To resolve existing conflicts with upstream users of Lingmutey-Chu stream.
About 50 hectares of fertile land, belonging to 31 households of the Wangjokha and Thanggo districts within the Thedtso Block, located at the tail end of Lingmutey-Chu stream, which would have otherwise remained fallow due to a shortage of water, became productive. Now farmers can cultivate rice during summer season and winter crops such as wheat, vegetables and cereals. As such, farmers have now been able to increase their food productivity thereby ensuring self-sufficiency. Farmers were also able to generate income from the sale of farm products.