Myagdi, July 7 : Entire households in Khanigaun village from Mangala Rural Municipality in Myagdi district have opted for commercial goat farming, making it a profitable business lately.
Yam Bahadur Budhathoki, a returnee
migrant worker, is doing goat farming for five years starting with 21 goats. He
has reared as high as 120 goats now including local and hybrid ones. Buthathoki
said that he made Rs 1 million in profit in a year for the past three
consecutive years from goat farming.
Besides Budhathoki, all 25 other
households in the village are engaged with this profession. Each household has
readied a well-managed barn for goats.
Budhathoki, 48, said that he
started doing agriculture by utilizing his skills learned abroad—a homegrown
idea for sustainable reintegration of returnee migrants back in their
society.
Identity of the entire village has
now changed as others too have followed his suit by doing goat farming and
vegetable farming.
There have been impressive changes
in the village after the skills transfer to the society, Budhathoki said.
A total of 34 farmers have formed
Gupteshwor Farmers Group for goat farming. The farmers have reared more than
600 goats in the village.
"We have no problem of grazing
land for goat farming. With the initiatives of returnee migrants, grants have
been provided and skill transfers have been ensured to the farmers for goat
farming, vegetable farming and beekeeping in Khanigaun," goat farmer Rajan
Ramjali said.
Ramjali hoped that the villagers
will earn millions in coming five years from goat farming, orange farming and
other agricultural businesses.
The rural municipality has also
provided some grant assistance to the goat farmers from Goat Farming Pocket
Programme. So far, the rural municipality has doled out almost Rs 2.2 million
in grant to encourage the goat farmers, Spokesperson of Mangala Rural
Municipality Yekjit Roka said.
Chairman of rural municipality Sat
Prasad Roka said that different activities are being implemented targeting the
farmers to develop the rural municipality as a model local level on agriculture
and animal husbandry. (RSS)