Kelzang Wangmo carefully picks dozens of eggs from her chicken farm one by one and places them in a bucket until it is filled to the brim. She then heads to the water tap where the eggs are washed, one at a time, before packing them for sale.
This has been a daily ritual for Kelzang ever since she began the poultry business eight months ago.
Kelzang’s poultry farm is like any other such farms in the country. But what sets it apart is it is the only poultry farm in the whole of Serthig Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Her farm is also different in that it is run by a woman single-handedly.
While she is not the first woman to have ventured into poultry farming, it is, however, true that there aren’t many women who run and manage poultry business on their own.
This makes Kelzang Wangmo, in her own right, a role model for women entrepreneurship.
It’s been a smooth sailing so far though she started with a lot of apprehensions.
“I knew nothing about poultry farming but this was really the only thing I thought I could since I’ve never been to school to be able to do something other than this,” she said.
Today, she has some 800 chickens in her farm and earns about Nu 3,000 from the sale of eggs every day. “The government has really been supportive,” she says.
“I borrowed about Nu 7, 00,000 from my friends to start the business. I’ve already cleared Nu 5, 00,000 as of now.”
Kelzang Wangmo sells all her eggs in the gewog only. “There is no dearth of customers. In fact, it’s hard to keep up with the demand. I supply eggs to two schools.”
Poultry business, she says, is profitable provided you know how to manage it. With the business getting better by the day, Kelzang is considering expanding her farm soon.
