Ganderbal, Mar 15: Armed with an MBA degree, Sajid Bashir Shah of Ganderbal was not enthused by government employment and would find interest in doing business.
He once visited the veterinary campus Ganderbal to obtain first hand information about the scope of dairy farming and other allied schemes with a mind to establish a dairy unit in the district to earn his livelihood.
According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Shah gathered all the requisite information about the Integrated Dairy Development Scheme (IDDS) and found it very interesting, lucrative and viable economic activity.
Without wasting any time, he applied under the flagship IDD scheme for establishment of a dairy farm.
The scheme not alone focuses on providing financial assistance to the beneficiary but also supports dairy producers by providing bulk milk cooling unit, paneer making machine, khoya making, dahi making, cream separator, ice-cream making machine, butter and ghee making machine, milk van, milk ATM and DG Set with 50% subsidy.
Shah established the unit with 25 cows within a fortnight of its clearance.
Initially, he procured one milking machine and DG set under the scheme for scientific milking of cows with uninterrupted power supply.
The dairy unit was established at Darekpora Sehpora Ganderbal under IDDS in 2021-22. The farmer currently rears high quality Crossbred Holstein Frisian and Crossbred Jersey cows besides having a good quality crop of heifers and calves ready.
The lactation numbers of animals at the farm range from 1st to 4th with an average daily milk production of 18-20 litres per cow. The estimated annual milk production of the farm is about 1.67 lakh litres with a turnover on sale of milk and other farm products touching Rs 60 lakh.
After deducting all the expenses incurred on feeding, breeding, labour, culling, medications and vaccination, the estimated yearly profit of the dairy farm is Rs 12 lakh and provides employment to seven persons.
According to Shah, dairy is one of the most important sectors and the vast population living in rural areas of the district relies on it.
Lauding the government for introducing the scheme, he said such schemes will go a long way in providing a much-needed boost to the dairy sector in the Valley and increase employment prospects—(KNO)
