By Our Correspondent, Salyan, May 22: Bhakta Bahadur Gharti of Kapurkot Rural Municipality-3 in the district has started rearing pigs since 2015 by buying four pigs.

In the first year, he felt that there would be no income from rearing pigs, but he started making a good income from the second year.

At present, he earns more than Rs. 1.2 million annually from selling pigs and piglets. According to him, a young piglet costs Rs. 5,000. Pigs are reared commercially in Ward Nos 2 and 3 of Kapurkot Rural Municipality.

After the demand for pork and piglets increased, a group has been formed in Kapurkot to raise pigs commercially. Also, a programme has been launched to developed Kapurkot-2 and 3 as a pig rearing pocket area.

Twenty-eight farmers belonging to the Janajagaran Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Group are now growing pigs commercially in Garpa village of Ward No. 2.

They have raised 500 female pigs. Earlier, a small number of pigs used to be reared at home, but now they are reared commercially, said Sher Bahadur Pun, chairman of Janajagaran Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Group.

The Veterinary Hospital and Veterinary Service Office, Salyan has provided assistance of Rs. 3 million to the farmers. The office has been providing money to purchase advanced breeder males, cages, and grain machines.

Kapil Prasad Upadhyaya, chief of the Veterinary Hospital and Veterinary Service Office, Salyan, said that a programme has been launched to develop Garpa as a pig rearing area.

Ward Chairman of Kapurkot Rural Municipality-2 Man Bahadur Rana said that the farmers are attracted to the business as they could earn a good income even with a small investment and hard work.

According to him, out of 450 households in the village, most of the households have reared pigs but 28 of them are rearing pigs commercially. The piglets produced in the Kapurkot area are being supplied to Kaski, Pokhara, Dang, Butwal, Rolpa and other places.