Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited’s (FCBL) auction yard in Phuentsholing is struggling to export cabbage because the markets across the border are flooded with cabbage from Shillong and Darjeeling. There were 1,300 bags of cabbage at the yard yesterday that have been waiting for negotiation since June 21.

FCBL purchased the cabbage from farmers of Chukha, Paro, Haa and Thimphu in a buy-back scheme that the organisation had recently initiated.

The importers from across the border are offering rates that range from Nu 5.5 to Nu 10 per kg. FCBL paid farmers Nu 19 per kg.

The yard’s complex manager, Ugyen Penjor, said the trend could last until mid-July.

“We are still negotiating with Indian importers and trying to sell.”

He said that the regulated market in Silliguri, where more than 60 percent of Bhutanese cabbage is usually traded, could open by July first week. It is one of the largest regulated markets in West Bengal, which is closed at present due to the pandemic.

Starting June 18, FCBL opened an aggregate centre at Damchu, Chukha for the buy-back scheme. Farmers from Chukha, Paro, Haa and Thimphu bring their produce to the centre from where FCBL takes to the auction yard.

The farmers are paid upfront at the centre and the corporation also bears the transportation cost from the centre to the auction yard.

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