Basnet family build model animal farm in Katahari

By Hari Prasad Koirala,Katahari (Morang), July 28: Giriraj Basnet, 56, who retired after working for 30 years in administrative field of Nepal Airlines Corporation and Buddha Air, is currently running a modern cow farm at Katahari Rural Municipality-7, Thalaha in Morang.

After retiring from his job, he started a hotel named ‘Hotel Asiatic’ in Biratnagar which became quite successful.

After COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the hotel business, he contemplated about trying his luck in livestock business. After researching for two years, he registered a company ‘Green Yard Agro Firm’ and started rearing cows, buffaloes, fish and goats adopting modern technology.

Initially, he bought a fish farm spread in nine bighas of land in Thalaha village, which is close to Biratnagar. Later, he purchased another six bighas of land to raise cows and goats.

Now, Basnet is rearing 105 Holstein cows, including 94 milking cows and 19 Murrah buffaloes, seven of which yield milk, in a modern shed.

According to him, he brought the cows from Punjab and buffaloes from Gujarat of India. A cow gives more than 20 liters of milk daily.

He added, "Now, around 1,500 litres of milk is being produced daily and currently we sell milk worth Rs. 125,000 every day. Our goal is to produce 3,000 litres of milk daily."

"In the next few years, we are preparing to raise the calves into birthing cows. There is a technology that can give birth to calves, if we can raise 100 calves into cows, within two years, we can produce 3,000 litres of milk per day."

According to him, he has started the production of simian breeding for calf production as well. A simian container is kept for breeding in the farm.

There is a provision to keep cows warm in winter and cool in summer.

Not only the daily sanitizer, the technology of feeding grass by machine (TMR), but also five bunkers (place to store grass) to keep the grass silage have been prepared. Last year, maize was cultivated on 85 bighas of land and silage was prepared from the maize, he said.

Basnet has managed a veterinarian from Maharashtra, India. He said that he gave Rs. 100,000 monthly to doctors.

His wife and two sons have been supporting Basnet in animal husbandry.

Mother Pratiksha, who works in a non-governmental organisation, also wanted her sons to work here. The Basnet couple are happy now that their sons, who have completed CA and MBA, have joined the business started by their father.

While in India, son Pragish had the opportunity to observe cattle breeding in Pune and he introduced the same technology in Nepal.

Accordingly, four modern sheds have been constructed according to the international company, Devil's technology. The TMR technology for feeding, milking parlour, slurry and scratcher are applied in the cattle farm.

Not only cows and buffaloes, he has also reared around 300 goats of Boer, local and jamunapari breeds.

Basnet, who started goat rearing by constructing two large modern sheds, said that the income has not started till now.

However, after seeing the data of Rs. 30 billion worth of meat import annually, he wants to expand goat rearing further, he added.

He planted grass in around seven bighas of land for animal husbandry.

He said that around 17 people are still getting employment even with the optimum use of technology.

Around Rs. 2.2 million annual income from fish

Basnet earned around Rs. 2.2 million from fish farm last year.

There are three separate ponds in four bighas of land for fish rearing.

As the demand for fish is high, Basnet, who is preparing to expand fish farming, has so far invested Rs. 250 million in the farm.

He said that when the firm is fully operational, around 40 per cent will be income and 60 per cent will cover expenses of the total business.