Kathmandu. MYAGDI: Youths who left foreign employment to engage in livestock rearing have achieved remarkable success in Myagdi. Suresh Dhungangana, 42, of Beni municipality-7 has earned a lucrative income from cattle rearing. Dhungana, who started livestock farming in 2072 BS after giving up foreign employment for about a decade, is known as a successful farmer who rears a lot of cows and buffaloes in the district.

In the beginning, he bought a cow and a buffalo each and brought the ‘Dhungana Agriculture and Livestock Farm’ into operation but now he has been selling 300 litres milk daily. He now has 50 cows and buffaloes including 45 cows in his farm. He sells milk worth around Rs 35,000 every day. Improved breeds of Murrah buffaloes, Holstein and Jersey cows are being reared in Dhungana’s farm.

“I toiled in the Gulf countries for more than a decade, returned to my village and started foreign employment with the intention of moving forward through livestock and agriculture. “Today, I have got success from the work I started, I am happy and satisfied with this profession,” he said. ’

Dhungana has not only become self-employed and self-reliant through animal husbandry, but has also provided employment to five other people on a regular basis. Three of them are employed as residents while the other two come to the farm on a daily basis. Dhungana, who works from early morning till late at night to take care of the cows and buffaloes of the farm, said that instead of sweating in other countries, he should look for the future in the possibilities of his own village.

The milk produced at Dhungana’s farm is consumed at the Dhaulagiri Dairy Industry in Beni Bazaar. Since the farm is located at a distance from Beni Bazaar, he has been transporting milk by keeping milk cans on his motorbike.

The farm has set a deadline to start milking the cows and buffaloes from 1 am and 2 pm and supply milk to the factory by 4 pm. The dairy industry has been purchasing milk at Rs 120 per litre. There is no compulsion to search for more markets for the sale of milk as milk production is regular and the dairy industry is easily procured.

Dhungana, who runs a farm on his ancestral land in Kurilakhark, has increased the capacity of the farm by purchasing additional land from his income from livestock rearing. So far, more than two and a half crore rupees have been invested in the purchase of cattle and infrastructure in his farm. Farmers from different places have been visiting the farm, which is being developed as a big and model farm in the district. Dhungana, a young farmer who has achieved success in animal husbandry, has received various awards at the district and state level.

In 2080 BS, ‘Dhungana Agriculture and Livestock Farm’ was awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Management of Gandaki State. Dhungana, who has been involved in livestock rearing in a systematic and commercial manner, said the support received from local, state and federal government offices has encouraged him to take up animal husbandry. The farm sells cow dung manure.

Assistant veterinary doctor Pradip Gautam of Beni Municipality said that Dhungana Agriculture and Livestock Farm is the best in the municipality and district. According to him, the municipality has also been providing production-based grant to livestock farmers for the past three years.