By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 110th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode on Sunday, highlighted how Goat farming by Odisha’s Jayanti Mahapatra-Biren Sahu in Kalahandi district, brought cheers among locals.
“My dear countrymen, when we talk about animal husbandry, we often stop at cows and buffaloes only. But the goat is also an important animal, which is not discussed much,” PM Modi said .
‘Many people in different areas of the country are also associated with goat rearing. In Kalahandi, Odisha, goat rearing is becoming a major means of improving the livelihood of the village people as well as their standard of living. Behind this effort is a major decision of Jayanti Mahapatra ji and her husband Biren Sahu ji. Both of them were management professionals in Bengaluru, but they decided to take a break and come to Salebhata village of Kalahandi, he said.
PM said these people wanted to do something that would solve the problems of the villagers here and simultaneously empower them. With this thinking full of service and dedication, they established Manikastu Agro and started working with the farmers. Jayanti ji and Biren ji have also opened an interesting Manikastu Goat Bank here. They are promoting goat rearing at the community level. There are about dozens of goats at their Goat Farm.
PM Modi said Manikastu Goat Bank has set up a complete system for the farmers. Through this, farmers are given two goats for 24 months. Goats give birth to 9 to 10 kids in 2 years, out of which 6 kids are kept by the bank, the rest are given to the same family which rears goats. Not only that, necessary services are also provided for the care of goats.
‘Today more than 1000 farmers from 50 villages are associated with this couple. With their help, the village people are moving towards self-reliance in the field of animal husbandry.I feel very happy to see that successful professionals in various fields are adopting novel methods to make small farmers empowered and self-reliant. Their efforts are going to inspire everyone, PM added.
