Broiler and piggery farm owners in Samdrup Jongkhar are doing a successful business. Almost all of their products are sold within their locality. The district has 30 broiler and 44 piggery farms. Besides improving the livelihoods of the farmers, it has helped cut down the import of chicken and pork from India.
Lal Badhur Burathoki in Phuntshothang Gewog has been raising chickens since 2011. It is one of his main sources of income. Today, Lal Badhur has 600 broiler birds. After feeding them for almost three months he sells them within the Dungkhag.
“The cost of the feed is also high, so we don’t get much profit. Even then it is better to do something rather than stay idle. In a year I use to raise five batches of broiler birds and earn Nu 200,000,” he said.
“I sell the chickens in the village, and also to the meat shops in Samdrupcholing; we don’t have a marketing problem here. We charge Nu 300 for a kilogram. For meat shops, we sell it for Nu 260 to 270 per kilogram,” said Devi Prasad Basnet, also a Broiler Farmer in Phuntshothang Gewog.
Suk Badhuar Tamang in the same gewog has been in the piggery business for the last five years; Like the poultry farmers, Suk also sells his products within Samdrupcholing Dungkhag.
“It’s profitable, we get Nu 400,000 to 500,000 in a year. We use it for feeds and our daily expenses. Some use to come here and buy, if not all my pork use to get sold in my meat shop only,” he said.
Suk Badhuar currently has 65 pigs. He also owns a meat shop in Samdrupcholing Dungkhag town. He sells a kilogram of pork at Nu 450.
According to Bhutan Trade Statistics 2021, the country imported more than 2,200 tons of pork and 2,500 tons of chicken from India. The import would’ve been more than this if districts like Samdrup Jongkhar have not produced any meat products. Samdrup Jongkhar alone produced more than 30 tons of pork and 62 tons of chicken last year.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Sonam
