Photo Courtesy: Dharan Kirshi Bazaar
ITAHARI: Goat farming is the ancestral profession of Bishnu Sunuwar from Dharan Sub-metropolitan City-5. He has been involved in commercial goat farming for the past decade and has never experienced his goats remaining unsold. Farmers like him have been selling their animals at the Agriculture Market in Dharang for a long time.
“There is no problem in selling goats like pigs and chickens,” Sunuwar said. “There is no fear of the animals remaining unsold.”
He added that if the animals do remain unsold, they could fetch an even better price later on.
“Sales peak during major festivals, but even on normal days, we get buyers,” he added.
However, he also mentioned that farmers will have to face significant losses if the animals die. “Although a livestock insurance program has been introduced, the process is troublesome as one has to arrange different documents and even prepare videos to make claims,” he added.
Bhim Khatri, a farmer from Sankhuwasabha, comes to Dharan to sell goats. “Animals sell faster during winter and festive seasons,” he said. “Sales remain slow during the rainy season.”
Thousands of farmers are engaged in livestock farming in Koshi Province, raising animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats, pigs, fish, ostriches, ducks, and chickens on their farms. Most of them find Dharan city to be the best platform to sell goats.
Laxman Bhattarai, manager of the Dharan-based Agriculture Market Management Committee, said farmers rush to the market to sell their goats. “Earlier, goats used to be sold on Fridays only. Nowadays, goats are sold on Thursdays and Fridays,” Bhattarai said. “More than 3,500 goats are sold on these two days.”
Goats worth over a billion rupees are sold in this market annually. “Sales double during festive seasons compared to normal days,” Bhattarai added.
He further explained that farmers are attracted to Dharan to sell goats because the commission charged elsewhere is much higher. “Farmers are charged up to 3% of the sales value elsewhere. We charge only Rs 50 per animal. It is Rs 40 only for milking goats,” he added.
Most of the farmers coming to the Dharan market to sell goats are from villages along the Koshi Corridor road and the hilly districts of the province. “Live goats cost Rs 600 per kg in Dharan,” he added. “Buyers from as far as Kathmandu are coming to this market.”
Netra Kafle, chairman of Ward-13 of Dharan sub-metropolis, said farmers used to sell animals at an old market in downtown Dharan until 2001. “We decided to bring that traditional market inside the agriculture market,” he added.
According to Kafle, as many as 10,000 goats are sold daily during the festive season. “Buyers from Hetauda, Narayanghat, Butwal, and Kathmandu source goats from Dharan,” he added.
The Information Officer at Animal and Fisheries Development Directorate, Koshi, Binod Kumar Sah, said veterinary technicians have been appointed across the province to promote livestock farming. “We have also launched a program to encourage farmers to focus on the production of animals depending on their localities,” he added.
He said livestock farmers in Koshi are raising animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, fishes, and fowls like chickens and ducks. According to Sah, the directorate has also been educating farmers about livestock insurance. “As the health of animals brought to the agriculture market is checked, unhealthy animals are not sold in the market,” he maintained.
