Anantnag woman says she became financially independent in just two years after starting dairy farm

From struggling to meet her family’s needs, a woman from south Kashmir has set an example for other female entrepreneurs to earn a handsome income through dairy farming.

Masarat Jan, 40, a resident of Sheipora Ladkipora in Anantnag district, started a dairy farm a few years ago with just one cow. She now has around 20 animals on her farm and earns around 50,000 rupees per month.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Masarat said her family was struggling to meet their ends and in order to lend a helping hand, she first purchased one cow.

“After seeing positive results, we decided to start a farm and purchased another cow, and in two years, the number of cows reached five,” she said. “Slowly and steadily, the number increased and now, we have 20 animals in our farm including calves.”

Currently, we produce hundreds of litres of milk on a daily basis and get an income of around Rs one lakh per month while 50 percent of it is being spent on the feed and fodder of animals.

“We earn around Rs 1 lakh from milk. However, around 50 percent is being spent on medicine, feed and calcium for animals,” she said.

Masarat said she and her husband spend full time on the farm taking care of animals, “And with the blessings of Almighty Allah, we are earning a good income,” she added.

She thanked the government for providing them financial assistance for starting the farm besides providing them a vehicle on subsidy for bringing fodder and taking milk to shop. She requested the government to provide them with the Vermicompost unit for cow dung and borewell as well.

“With the help of this unit, we have been managing everything including the studies of our children very well,” Masarat said while requesting other women to start their units with government schemes to become financially independent.

“One shouldn’t sit idle at home but start their own units with the help of various schemes,” she said. “Youth shouldn’t run after government jobs only. Rather they must start something and if they work hard, they will very soon become job providers instead of job seekers.