From Rags to Riches.. Inspiring story of Sheep farmer
Like any other person with no formal education in rural household, Showkat Ahmad Teli S/o Ghulam Qadir Teli R/o Telwanpora (Trigam)
continued the traditional farming and carpet weaving as his career. However, it was really hard to meet the day-to-day expenses that
frustrated him. He wanted to choose some other profession. Being
from a rural background, he had affection for the livestock especially
for the sheep. He had many times thought to start a sheep farm at
commercial level but due to financial constraints the start was
seemingly impossible till he came across the schemes of
Sheep Husbandry Department Kashmir. The much-needed
start was provided by the Department of Sheep Husbandry
Kashmir when he luckily was selected as a beneficiary under
Mini Sheep Farm Scheme in 2017. After establishing the
unit, he worked tirelessly to establish himself in this sector with time to time help from
department with respect to management and health cover including treatment and
vaccination for which he always expresses gratitude. He advises every new person that wants to rear sheep to keep a close liaison with Sheep Husbandry Department for
successful and profitable sheep business. Currently, he is having about seventy-four (74)
sheep including twenty-two males and fifty-two females. The livestock is managed semi-
intensively and as per Showkat Ahmad this is one of the main advantages in sheep rearing low costs are incurred during
summer months. Initially the winter
management especially with respect to
nutrition used to be very cumbersome
but now new techniques like treatment
of straws, feed blocks are reducing this
burden. Additionally, the feed and
fodder supply viz silages and wheat
straw from outside has lessen the input
costs during the winter months. His main
market is selling of sacrificial animals
about 15-20 animals on every Bakr Eid
fetching him a profit of about 2 lacs every
year. He believes that there is huge
potential of sheep farming in the
Kashmir Valley but due to lack to priority
from time to time this sector has not
seen the growth it could had. There must
be farms that supply the sheep to
butchers on
day-to-day basis and not restrict
themselves
to sheep for eid only. With the facilities and technical input from Sheep Husbandry Department, many
youths will take up this profession and will excel in it, he hopes. And as he puts it, “Not everyone will be
having a Govt job, people must accept it. And in my opinion, sheep sector is the best yet untapped option”. He believes that time is
not far when not a single truck carrying sheep from outside will enter this valley.
Dr. Farukh Mehraj
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon
Sheep Development Block Sumbal
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