SUCCESS STORY - COMMERCIAL PIGEON FARMING

There is a lot of talk about achieving success by raising poultry, goats or cattle.  However, the economic success of raising pigeons is rarely heard. Mrs. Renu Begum Mazumder, a member of Momtaz Self Help Group of Baghadahar Borjurai Gaon Panchayat under Block Mission Management Unit, Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission has been able to establish a lucrative business by raising pigeons commercially.

The woman had no such place to raise cows, goats, chickens or ducks like others do in her village. So we gave her the idea to start pigeons raising commercially, which requires less space. Pigeons can be reared in any corner of the house or in the yard or in small places like roof or cornice. It is even possible to keep pigeons by hanging baskets on the roof. 

Raising pigeons is a lucrative business as one pair of pigeons gives birth to 12-13 pairs in just 12 months. There is a huge demand for pigeon meat in this region. Pigeon meat is also delicious and fortifying. There is no extra cost for keeping pigeons. Pigeons can be easily domesticated.

Commercial pigeon rearing does not require much money. Commercial pigeon rearing requires a capital of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. She didn't have that much of money at that time when she started, so she borrowed money from her SHG. Her SHG used to collect weekly subscriptions and deposit them in their group and above all they also got government help of Rs. 25000 under Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojona.

Initially she bought five pairs of pigeons. The pigeons give birth to babies, and when the babies grow up, they give birth to new babies. Thus the number of pigeons gradually increased. At present she has 25 pairs of pigeons in her farm. If we calculate the current market price, there are pigeons worth of rupees ten thousand or more in her farm.  Pigeons mainly eat peas, wheat, maize, barley, mustard, rice, paddy, pulses etc. which are found in abundance in everyone's house, especially in rural areas.

Excluding one-time expenses such as the cost of buying pigeons and building pigeons house, food and other expenses costs around Rs. 2000 per month on an average. The SHG women is getting 25 pairs of chicks per month from her 25 pairs of parent pigeon and she is selling at Rs. 450 per pairs, means these are being sold for 11,250 rupees (approx). Excluding monthly expenses, there is a a profit of Rs. 10,000 (approx). If you observe more, the profit will increase. If foreign racers and other improved breeds of pigeons are reared, the amount of profit will increase several times. Now her plan is to take an another loan of Rs.25,000 from her SHG so that she can buy improved breeds of pigeons and can build new houses for which they have already submitted a bank loan application.

SUCCESS STORY - SHEEP REARING AS A SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD OPTION

Zahirun Nessa Barbhuiya, a member of Naziha Self Help Group of Baghadahar Borjurai Gaon Panchayat of village Berenga Pt- III under BMMU, Silchar development block, has become self-sufficient by sheep farming. Her financial situation was very bad before she joined ASRLM self-help group because her husband died early keeping three childrens on her and she was responsible for the family where she was the sole earner.

The idea for raising sheep came to her mind while visiting one of her relatives house and saw a sheep farm there and learnt that, raising sheep is a very lucrative business. She became interested in raising sheep. After that she takes a loan of Rs. 10000 from her SHG and bought two sheeps from them. The loan she repaid later.

At present she has 26 sheep in her farm. According to her, keeping sheep is very profitable as sheeps are less susceptible to diseases than goats. The food also takes relatively less. The food that the sheep eat while grazing in the fields meets their food needs. A sheep gives birth to 2/3 calves every 6/7 months.  When the child is one month old, the child is sold for 2-3 thousand rupees. This baby starts giving birth for the first time after 1 year of age. Later she gives birth every 6 months. This is a very lucrative business. Raising sheep requires less capital. But the benefits are much higher. 

She also regularly participates in free vaccination camps with her sheeps at the initiative of the BMMU Silchar. As a result, there is less ailment in her sheeps, especially in foot and mouth. This protects her against probable financial loss in the future.

Recently her self-help group have received Rs. 25,000 under Kananlata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojana and then gets another loan of Rs 1 lakh from Dena Bank, Silchar. She has already taken another loan of Rs 25,000 from her SHG and is thinking of expanding her business. She is planning to build a new scientific model house where she is planning to increase the number of her sheeps with improved breeds.

This is how Zahirun Nessa Barbhuiya, a member of Naziha Self Help Group, has become self-sufficient and now able to run her own family smoothly. She earns Rs 60,000-70,000 every year by selling sheep.

SUCCESS STORY - SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS THROUGH NURSERY AND VERMICOMPOST BED RAISING

Constructions of new houses in rural areas, many people are planting saplings of various plants on their house’s roofs and backyards to enhance its beauty. As a result, the demand for tree saplings has increased these days. Taking this as an opportunity, Sadhana Roy, a member of Radha Gobinda Self Help Group of Ambicapur Gaon Panchayat under BMMU Silchar Development Block, Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission has initiated a very small commercial nursery unit of Flowers, Herbs like Aloe Vera, Tulsi, Neem etc. and Fruit crop like Red Lady papaya etc. With income generation her initiative will also help in freeing the environment from the ill effects of climate change.

Seeing her initiative, BMMU officials advised her to raise her own Vermicompost bed. Considering the fact that, if she makes organic compost of her own then there is no need to buy from outside, which will save her money too. Vermicompost can be made at very low cost as Vermicompost requires rotten banana plant and at least 1 week of old cow dung which are easily available in rural area at very low cost. Also the lady gathered her own kitchen vegetable waste and collected from other members for the production of the compost. We trained her in Vermicompost making technology. 

The lady purchased a tarpaulin Vermicompost tanks from an e-commerce site. The tank she made ready with iron net frames on top to protect the worms from rats, lizards and birds. The money she spent, had borrowed from her SHG who have availed recently a grant of Rs. 25000 under Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojana.

The first compost was ready within 60 days of release of 500 Gms of worms into the bed. They got more than 100 Kgs of compost in the first harvest. Now she is using the Vermicompost in her small nursery and she also sells it outside for 25 rupees per kg. The business that she started with only 500 grams of worms has grown to 2 kg today. Now she is also selling worm at Rs. 2 each.

She doesn't have to wait for a market for her produce because her customers are her own self help group members and others self help group members in her Gaon Panchayat. Meeting all the expenses the member is earning approx Rs. 5000 per month from her business. In this way she has become self-reliant and her income has also increased as a result her standard of living has improved too.

SUCCESS STORY - EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH BACKYARD POULTRY

Block Mission Management Unit of Silchar Development Block, Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission has taken an initiative to promote backyard country chicken among its SHG members, which is a supplementary income source and a livelihood opportunities to them. Country chicken has a niche market and prime rate compared to broiler chicken. Taste of country chicken is also considered an attractive factor to rear them. But most of the country chicken rearing restricted to rearing of indigenous birds that have poor production growth. To increase the production, it requires introducing improved varieties of chicken, which can promise better production of meat and eggs. To increase the backyard poultry production BMMU Silchar in convergence with line department decided to introduce Rainbow Rooster breed. It is a dual purpose breed. When managed as a layer, rainbow roosters will lay 160-180 eggs. When managed as meat birds, the rainbow rooster will attain the average weight of 2kgs in 8 weeks under commercial feeds. Due to high resistance to poultry diseases and the free-range nature of rainbow roosters, its farming can be carried out with a low investment.

Hasina Begum Mazumder, a member of Amrita Self Help Group of Baghadahar Borjurai Gaon Panchayat under BMMU Silchar, kept faith on us and decided to rear Rainbow Rooster for meat purpose only. On the mean time her SHG has received Bank Loan of Rs. 200000. Taking loan of Rs. 30000 from her SHG she invested the whole amount in the project.

Housing is one of the largest and one time start-up costs in poultry firm. It is advised to build poultry house at least 2 square feet per chicken. The lady said it costed her around Rs. 60-70 per square feet to build the poultry house. All the expenses meeting the cost of chicks, housing, electricity bill, vaccination and fooding it stood around Rs. 30000 (approx). 

After 50 days of rearing with zero mortality rate her chickens attained 1.7 per kg in an average. She had sold all the chickens @ Rs. 350 per kg and it is found that after meeting all the expenses she had secured profit of Rs. 25,000 (approx). Here it is seen that, a cycle of raising this breed of chicken lasts for 60 days, then it is possible to raise it six times in a year. If we assume it five times in year, is generating income of Rs. 1,25,000 (approx). Smelling of success, she decided to expand her poultry farm to raise more nos. of chickens from the CIF fund that she is suppose to receive from her VO.

By this way, through backyard poultry, Hasina Begum Mazumder has brought significant changes in her socio-economic condition. She is now an example of how a woman can be successful by dint of hard work and devotion. She is now an inspiration for many as she has now become a self-reliant.