Bharat Bahadur Bista, a farmer of Jayaprithvi municipality, Pades has earned income amounting to tens of millions of rupees from goat-keeping.
Initiated the business from two goats, and he has now possessed two sheds full of goats. Bista's family had been residing at Pungar (located at a high altitude) since the fourth generation of his ancestors and adopted the goat-keeping profession for the past three decades.
In the area which is merely one-and-a-half hour away from the district headquarters, the Bista family is selling four-five castrated goats every month. "I had only a mother and a baby goat in the beginning. Now I have over a dozen goats in two years since I adopted the profession".
Annually he is having a financial transaction of a minimum of 55 goats. "I never had to go back in my life after my transactions grew with the goat-farming profession. I am selling at least four goats every month which is adequate to manage expenses for our livelihood.
He however said that it was difficult to protect goats from tigers and jackals. "There is no loss from goat keeping", he said, adding it has a good market.
Along with goats, he has also been rearing other cattle such as buffalo, cow, and ox. "The cattle are my capital. I fully devote my time to rear them. I am connected to the outer world only through radio".
He said that Pungar has become a boon for his family to eke out a livelihood. "We go to Chainpur to sell our surplus yields of vegetables and fruits", he narrated. The road access has made it easier for them to run their small business, he said. ---
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