Shari Lhothen Omgi Tshogpa performing well in milk business ...

Paro, July 16: Under the technical support from the Department of Livestock, farmers in Dop Shari under Paro Dzongkhag have formed a milk producing group known as Shari Omgi Lothen Tshogpa. The group has been formed mainly to help them earn a steady income through the sale of milk and to achieve milk self-sufficiency.

Dop Shari is a geog with five chiwogs and more than three hundred and thirty households.

The tshogpa was formed in 2004 with fund support from the Wang Watershed Management Project with forty-eight members agreeing to produce milk and sell through the group at a reasonable price. To start with, the project provided them with milk cans, testing equipments, milk churners etc. along with a vehicle to deliver the milk. However, between 2004-2010, the group lost some of their members due to its poor functioning and the group members dropped down to twenty-five only.

At that time, the livestock officials in the geog played an important role and helped to retain the group. With their effective involvement, the group is now back on the working track and performing well. At present, the group has fifty members and is run by a chairman, secretary and an accountant cum milk collector. The officials monitor them from time to time with all the technical backstopping that also looks after their problems.

Each member has three to fifteen jersey cattle which are either bought by themselves or on a loan basis.

The group collects an average of 450 litres of milk everyday which the members bring to a collection point in Shari. The milk is then taken to an agent at Hongkong market in Thimphu for sale. The farm gate price for milk is Nu. 35 per litre and their market price is Nu. 35 per litre. According to Mr. Giri, a livestock official of the geog, the group produces more than 8,600 litres of milk in a month. ?However, the milk production goes a little down during winter due to shortage of fodder,? he added.

The group deposits their monthly profit in a bank. As of now they have savings of around Nu. 2,00,000/-. They are planning to use their savings to facilitate cattle and households loans for the members at a low interest in the future.

According to Mr. Giri, the group had once faced difficulty in functioning due to lack of proper training on group management. He feels that the training such as book keeping and exposure through the study tour will be very helpful for the members in order to make them understand about benefits of group formation.

In the meantime, more farmers are stepping forward to join the group for which they are required to pay Nu. 200/- as a registration fee. ?They believe that it is much easier for them to sell their milk through the group as they need not go around looking for a market and other related issues.

This group formation has significantly improved the socio-economic status of the milk producers in Shari. The group has also registered with the Department of Agricultural and Marketing Cooperatives (DAMC) in February 2012 as one of the farmers cooperatives.

Besides cattle rearing, farmers there also practice agriculture and poultry farming. The geog has the highest number of jersey cattle, according to officials.

- Reported with photographs by Tshering Doma, ICS

July 18, 2012 ??webmaster Posted?in:?News 55 views

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Source: http://www.moaf.gov.bt/moaf/?p=10065

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