From bare subsistence to dignified living, Dairy Farming has changed the life of Kartar Singh- a marginal farmer of Parnote Village of Highway District Ramban.
Kartar Singh’s story reveals how a person can succeed with the dent of his courage and under proper guidance. Utilizing his own limited assets, local resources and availing the benefits of beneficiary oriented schemes launched by the Center as well as UT Government has helped Kartar Singh, a semi skilled villager with small landholding to a progressive agro- entrepreneur.
According to Kartar Singh, he worked as a Masson for 17 long years. Uncertainty and dearth of getting work compelled him to seek Job from a new employer.
To his good luck, in 2018, Kartar Singh met with the officers and field functionaries of Animal Department Ramban at an awareness camp. They encouraged Singh to start a small Dairy Unit with the assurance to provide full guidance and technical knowhow.
Kartar Singh availed the benefit of Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) of the Animal Husbandry Department and started a small dairy unit with two cows at his village Parnote. With the help of his wife Rano Devi, he increased the number of cows to 5 within three years.
In due course, he started supplying over 50 kg milk per day to people and earned nearly Rs. 50000 monthly.
With improvement in his income, Singh has now purchased a scooter to provide home delivery of milk to people in Ramban town.
Kartar Singh informed that the Animal Husbandry Department provided him all due benefits of the dairy farming schemes and guidance about modern dairy farming.
He said that with the help of the Animal Husbandry Department, he has purchased 5 more cows under Integrated Dairy Development Scheme (IDDS) from Punjab which would help to double daily milk production and income as well.
In view of increased workload with adding of cattle heads to 10, “I have engaged a local person to manage the daily work efficiently and take care of cows. My four children are studying in a good atmosphere and I am planning to provide every possible opportunity to them for obtaining higher and quality education,” said Kartar.
He expressed gratitude to the Government for bringing good days in his life by providing financial assistance for starting a dairy farming unit. Inspired by his success, Kartar is not going to stop here. “Now I have planned to produce organic compost by establishing vermicompost near my dairy farm with the help of experts of the Agriculture Department,” he informed.
Dairy Farming has encouraged Kartar further. Understanding the benefits of Composite farming, he is also earning good returns from his 17 Kanal agricultural-land. “My agriculture production has increased threefold,” Kartar Singh claimed.
Kartar wants the PWD department to connect his dairy farm with a road which would ease his job, which reflects his aptitude for becoming a successful entrepreneur.
With his resounding success, Kartar Singh has won the heart of district administration. Recently, Deputy Commissioner Ramban, Mussarat Islam interacted with Kartar Singh in presence ADC Harbans Lal and other senior officers. He congratulated him for his exemplary success in the field of dairy farming and assured full cooperation from the District Administration for further development of his unit.
The DC urged Singh to encourage his counterparts to take benefits of these farmers’ friendly schemes being implemented by the Department of Animal Husbandry for their socio-economic development.
According to Chief Animal Husbandry Officer, Dr. Bharat Bhushan Raina livestock are valuable assets of the rural poor and are critical in supporting their livelihoods, particularly in hilly terrain districts like Ramban. “Dairy Farming has proved a game changer for many farmers like Kartar Singh and Mohammad Sadiq hailing from village Pogal Paristan, Tehsil Ramsoo, and District Ramban,” he said. (The feature has been written by DIPR-JK)
