Irrigation means food for children and hope for Yeghiazaryan family
The old children’s adage, “Rain, rain go away, come again another day’ is something you will never hear spoken in Tsaghkashen village nestled in the Gavar region of Armenia.
“If it does not rain, it means our land is not irrigated at all”, says Ashot Yeghiazaryan, 45, the head of a six-member family living in Tsaghkashen village.The family has 1.2 hectares of land, which remains uncultivated because of the lack of irrigation. “We cannot irrigate the land, we cannot cultivate it with a tractor and we do not have the necessary amount of seeds to plant the fields”, says Ashot’s wife, 30-year-old Gayane Mikinyan.
The family can only afford to cultivate 400sq metres of their land, which provides food for the family to last the whole winter, yet even this small piece of land is not irrigated.
If it does not rain, it means our land is not irrigated at all “If we do not irrigate, we receive only 800kg of potatoes, 500 kg of which we need to store as seeds for the coming year. It is so hard to feed a six-member family with only 300kg of potatoes for the whole winter”, explains Gayane since potatoes are the staple food for people of this region.
Christine, 5, is the youngest child in the family. She loves to help the family cultivate the land and feed the cow. “I love potatoes, especially fried. I love when Mom prepares meat and buys sweets from the shop”, says Christine, which is sadly a too infrequent treat.
It is so hard to feed a six-member family with only 300kg of potatoes for the whole winter The family used to have an animal-stock with a number of cows and sheep, but throughout the years has had to sell the animals – their primary asset, in order to buy potato seeds and wood for winter.
Potato is one of the few crops that grows in the windy and dry climate of the region. Most of the families in the village cultivate potato - the staple diet for the villagers during the harsh winters and cold springs.
Tsaghkashen village is surrounded by mountains that are covered with snow for up to six months of the year. But at late spring, when the snow melts, the waters create a natural source of irrigation for the village.
“High in the mountains there are natural water resources, but as there is no irrigation system, even small pieces of land remain without water”, says Ashot Yeghiazaryan, “One cannot bring the water to his yard by oneself”, he adds.
The father of the family is unemployed but from time to time he works with the villagers in the fields, providing very little and inconsistent income to meet his family’s needs.
Gayane takes care of children Aghavni, 14, Iveta, 13, Hayk, 12, who attend school, and Christine, 5. Gayane also spends much of her day looking after the cow and tending the land.
“Our everyday meal is limited to potatoes - fried, boiled or barbequed in the wood burning stove. Very often I notice that the children are tired of eating the same food every day”, says Gayane.
“Thankfully, we have a cow that provides us with fresh milk, which is so important for the children’s diet”, she adds.
The children need meat, and also want to eat sweets, but very rarely can we buy meat and sweets for them Very seldom Gayane buys macaroni (pasta) from the village shop. “I know that diverse food is very important for the health of the children. But the money our family owes to the market is so much”, says Gayane.
Though Gayane understands the importance of buying fresh fruit and vegetables for the children, she is unable to do so. The prices are just too high and beyond the family’s means.
Apart from the challenge of irrigation, the cultivation of the land is a very hard task for the family, as they cannot afford to pay for a tractor and so have no choice but to cultivate their land by hand.
“When it is time to cultivate the land we all go to the field and plant the seeds with our own hands. The whole family spends weeks in the field to plant the potatoes”, says Ashot.
To reap a good potato harvest the family needs to use certain fertilizers, but as they do not have the financial means to buy fertilizers, which are becoming increasingly expensive, they use the manure from their only cow.
“It is good for the land to be fertilized with manure, but we also use the same manure to burn at winter time. Pretty often it is hard to decide for which purpose to use the manure”, says Gayane.
The family receives a poverty allowance from the government, which, according to Gayane, they spend on paying back the debts to the village shop and buying meat for the children.
“The children need meat, and also want to eat sweets, but very rarely can we buy meat and sweets for them,” says Gayane.
The Yeghiazaryan family however is not alone in its search for solutions to the enormous problem of irrigation. World Vision Armenia, with funding from donors in Taiwan is looking at ways of carrying out a number of much needed development projects specifically in Tsaghkashen village and generally in Gavar region.
“The establishment of irrigation system in Tsaghkashen community is one of the primary concerns of Gavar ADP and as we move into operations phase and receive sufficient funding, we will seek to provide this community with irrigation system that will certainly improve the quality and quantity of the agricultural produce and support the sustainability of the families in Tsaghkashen” says Vardan Aghajanyan, Gavar Area Development Programme Manager.
“If it does not rain, it means our land is not irrigated at all”, says Ashot Yeghiazaryan, 45, the head of a six-member family living in Tsaghkashen village.The family has 1.2 hectares of land, which remains uncultivated because of the lack of irrigation. “We cannot irrigate the land, we cannot cultivate it with a tractor and we do not have the necessary amount of seeds to plant the fields”, says Ashot’s wife, 30-year-old Gayane Mikinyan.
The family can only afford to cultivate 400sq metres of their land, which provides food for the family to last the whole winter, yet even this small piece of land is not irrigated.
If it does not rain, it means our land is not irrigated at all “If we do not irrigate, we receive only 800kg of potatoes, 500 kg of which we need to store as seeds for the coming year. It is so hard to feed a six-member family with only 300kg of potatoes for the whole winter”, explains Gayane since potatoes are the staple food for people of this region.
Christine, 5, is the youngest child in the family. She loves to help the family cultivate the land and feed the cow. “I love potatoes, especially fried. I love when Mom prepares meat and buys sweets from the shop”, says Christine, which is sadly a too infrequent treat.
It is so hard to feed a six-member family with only 300kg of potatoes for the whole winter The family used to have an animal-stock with a number of cows and sheep, but throughout the years has had to sell the animals – their primary asset, in order to buy potato seeds and wood for winter.
Potato is one of the few crops that grows in the windy and dry climate of the region. Most of the families in the village cultivate potato - the staple diet for the villagers during the harsh winters and cold springs.
Tsaghkashen village is surrounded by mountains that are covered with snow for up to six months of the year. But at late spring, when the snow melts, the waters create a natural source of irrigation for the village.
“High in the mountains there are natural water resources, but as there is no irrigation system, even small pieces of land remain without water”, says Ashot Yeghiazaryan, “One cannot bring the water to his yard by oneself”, he adds.
The father of the family is unemployed but from time to time he works with the villagers in the fields, providing very little and inconsistent income to meet his family’s needs.
Gayane takes care of children Aghavni, 14, Iveta, 13, Hayk, 12, who attend school, and Christine, 5. Gayane also spends much of her day looking after the cow and tending the land.
“Our everyday meal is limited to potatoes - fried, boiled or barbequed in the wood burning stove. Very often I notice that the children are tired of eating the same food every day”, says Gayane.
“Thankfully, we have a cow that provides us with fresh milk, which is so important for the children’s diet”, she adds.
The children need meat, and also want to eat sweets, but very rarely can we buy meat and sweets for them Very seldom Gayane buys macaroni (pasta) from the village shop. “I know that diverse food is very important for the health of the children. But the money our family owes to the market is so much”, says Gayane.
Though Gayane understands the importance of buying fresh fruit and vegetables for the children, she is unable to do so. The prices are just too high and beyond the family’s means.
Apart from the challenge of irrigation, the cultivation of the land is a very hard task for the family, as they cannot afford to pay for a tractor and so have no choice but to cultivate their land by hand.
“When it is time to cultivate the land we all go to the field and plant the seeds with our own hands. The whole family spends weeks in the field to plant the potatoes”, says Ashot.
To reap a good potato harvest the family needs to use certain fertilizers, but as they do not have the financial means to buy fertilizers, which are becoming increasingly expensive, they use the manure from their only cow.
“It is good for the land to be fertilized with manure, but we also use the same manure to burn at winter time. Pretty often it is hard to decide for which purpose to use the manure”, says Gayane.
The family receives a poverty allowance from the government, which, according to Gayane, they spend on paying back the debts to the village shop and buying meat for the children.
“The children need meat, and also want to eat sweets, but very rarely can we buy meat and sweets for them,” says Gayane.
The Yeghiazaryan family however is not alone in its search for solutions to the enormous problem of irrigation. World Vision Armenia, with funding from donors in Taiwan is looking at ways of carrying out a number of much needed development projects specifically in Tsaghkashen village and generally in Gavar region.
“The establishment of irrigation system in Tsaghkashen community is one of the primary concerns of Gavar ADP and as we move into operations phase and receive sufficient funding, we will seek to provide this community with irrigation system that will certainly improve the quality and quantity of the agricultural produce and support the sustainability of the families in Tsaghkashen” says Vardan Aghajanyan, Gavar Area Development Programme Manager.
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