Himalayan News Service

Tanahun, April 17:

National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) of Bandipur has claimed success in goat farming and development, that had been going on for the last 15 years. NARC had been working on genetic modification, feeds, agriculture, grass and forage, health and policies related to social economy. The centre targets to prioritise hilly areas of the country for animal reproduction, animal health, nutrition and feed management, grass production and forage and meat treatment.

The centre is spread on 22 hectares of land in Chhap of Bandipur-1 and 58 hectares in Sarpani of Bandipur-3, at a height of 812 metres above the sea level. It is 24 kilometres east of Damauli and 141 kilometres west of Kathmandu. The centre currently has 520 different species of goat, informed Nhuchhe Lal Tamrakar, centre chief and senior scientist. He said that the centre has been disseminating information about different technologies to farmers to increase their income.

'The centre is doing a detailed study on different types of goat disease and its treatment,' said Tamrakar. He also said that apart from the three-month-old kids, all have been vaccinated against PPR. The centre has been researching on the suitability of different types of grasses to be grown. The centre has been growing three annual grasses, one winter grass, seven all-year grasses and more than 10 types of fodder grasses. The centre claims to have succeeded in helping increase meat and milk production after a detailed sorting out of different species of goats. It has been working on the cross breeding of goats for further development.

According to a statistics of the centre, it has sold 72 high-quality he-goats in Myagdi, Pokhara, Gorkha, Lamjung, Chitwan, Syangja and Kathmandu this fiscal year. It has planned to distribute 19 high-quality he-goats for reproduction in the next fiscal year. The NARC claimed to have sold more than 1,500 good-quality goats since its inception. Parshu Ram Poudel, a farmer from Aanbu Khaireni, said that he sells at least two to three high-quality goats annually. Similarly, farmer Shadananda Adhikary said that he has even bought a very fertile land from the money collected through goat sales. 'The centre gave me one goat and technical advice through which I now have 30 goats,' shared farmer Adhikary. Farmer Datta Shahi of Bandipur-1 said that he has a shed full of goats from the two goats he bought from the centre. The centre provided him with technical knowledge for cross breeding. Farmer Bhadra Bahadur Lamichhane said that he has also been able to gain good income from goat farming.

A statistics of the centre showed that the high-quality goats bred three times in two years and had 1.8 kids on an average. The kids gained 13 kilograms of weight before they were nine months old. It also shows that with proper care, farmers could easily earn Rs 4,000 per conception of a goat. The centre, which has been encouraging farmers from 16 VDCs for commercial goat farming, has 22 employees and 10 goatherds. Rs 3.6 million had been budgeted for the centre during this fiscal year, out of which half has already been spent, said Tamrakar.