DEHRADUN: Rekha Devi, a resident of Chakrata in Uttarakhand did not get hopes high when officials from Uttarakhand State Sheep Goat Farmers Co-operative Federation, an initiative by Uttarakhand state government approached for empanelment in a scheme which aimed to provide market to goat and sheep rearers.
Devi reluctantly signed up which now she believes was the best decision. She now supplies goats to the board under the 'BAKRAW' initiative which took shape last year as home delivery of mutton to the doorstep of customers.
Brainchild of secretary, animal husbandry Meenakshi Sundaram, IAS officer of 2001 batch who joined the department in year 2016 and is also a veterinarian by qualification, the initiative aims to provide market for sheep/goat products and streamline income flow for the farmers.
"Our aim is to transform the unorganized sheep and goat sector of Uttarakhand into a self sustaining organized cooperative sector resulting in substantial improvement in the livelihood of the farmers making them 'Atma Nirbhar," says Sundaram.
Till date over 13,596 farmers from various parts of 13 districts of Uttarakhand have enrolled out of which 7219 are women.
At present over 1500 goat rearers from six blocks of four districts- Rudraprayag, Almora, Bageshwar and Pauri have started getting benefits of the scheme.
Aiming to create a world class brand which will benefit all stakeholders from farm-to-fork, the scheme helps farmers/rearers in hilly areas of Uttarakhand.
Sameena Qureshi, a goat rearer from Chakrata of Dehradun says, "We now sell our product to the board directly. This gives us more rates than we used to get from local butchers and also we have surity of getting our investment back in manifolds."
Dr Avinash Anand, Chief Executive Officer of the board says, "We thought to create brand for our own farmers and to provide them a huge market which is yet to be tapped for their benefit. The scheme is a holistic approach to facilitate and support the farmers from Uttarakhand hills to train and provide facilities such as breeding, nutrition, vaccination, deworming and other aspects to help farmers improvise yield and increase their income in manifold."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the release of the funds of Rs 100 crore in February 2019 in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand out if which Rs 25 Crore was for sheep and goat rearing project.
Anand says that the hill state has a huge population (more than 70%) of non-vegetarians and has education hubs as well as renowned tourist places which provides huge potential for utilizing the rearing skills of the farmers/rearers.
Keeping in mind the demand for authentic Himalayan goat meat, the project was developed to ensure supply of unadulterated goat meat to customers which also include the defence establishments in Uttarakhand.
Dr Shirish Shirsat, Chief Operating Officer of the project who has been working in the industry for over 23-years and have travelled across globe says, "This project is for long run. The results will come with time eventually and will change the quality of goat and sheep rearing for good of the farmers. This will help increase farmers' yield which will eventually increase their income.
Explaining the methodology how the rearers will benefit, the COO added that earlier per day weight gain of the goats bordered somewhere 60-70 grams per day which has now achieved gain of 130-150 grams per day.
"This will shorten the time period for the rearers to sell their product and they will be able to produce more that they were in the same time period," added the COO.
"The sector is highly unorganized and we aim to systematically organize and provide market for the farmers who work hard all their lives but don't get their dues. By this initiative we have eliminated the middlemen so that the farmers are not exploited," said Anand.
Under the scheme, the rearers who have 10 goats already are provided with 11 goats by the self-help groups under the umbrella of cooperative societies created by the board. Out of these 10 are female and 1 is male of 'Sirohi' breed which is known for its high weight gaining capacity in shorter time period.
The farmers are under contract for 8-years in which the board aims to increase their livestock atleast 4 times of the original possession along with increase in income atleast three times.
The farmers rear the livestock, 90% of which is bought back by the board under contract while farmers get to keep 10%.
Later, the produce is processed by export quality meat production unit certified by ISO, HACCP and FSSAI with motto of 'Pure, Fresh, Hygienic, Traceable, Covid Safe' fresh goat meat. The board has also developed a website - www.himalayangoatmeat.com along with social media pages by the brand name 'Bakraw'.
The Federation has also launched 'Meat on Wheels' a mobile unit with chiller, processing and dispatch first time in India. The unit has own staff, CCTV and other requisite arrangements to deliver fresh goat meat door to door.
The cost fluctuates between Rs 600-800 per kilograms depending on the time of the year. A customer can order range of products including 'Chops', 'Curry Cuts', 'Bonless', 'Six Way Cuts', 'Legs' 'Mince Meat' and even the full carcass.
"Till date we have over 1600 completely satisfied customers in Dehradun. Our customers can trace from which cluster the meat has been supplied to them. This assures customers and in turn demand increases" said the CEO.
The federation has also introduced specialised livestock carriers to reduce stress and other issues for the livestock which is transported in unsuitable conditions.