The 27 Assam Riffles organized an awareness program cum training capsule today in Wino bazaar Army post at 11 am in collaboration with State Bank of India.
Col. Rippon Bora, Commandant, 27 AR, Cpt. Ashish Sharma, Town Command, 27 AR, Thangam Jelly, manager, SBI Somsai Branch jointly organized the program to spread awareness and educate farmers in seeking subsidy loans from banks to set up their own piggery farms.
Farmers from Ukhrul, Peh, Lunghar, Hoomi and Sihai Khunou, collectively 30 farmers, along with their families, participated in the program. Mayanglambam Nimai Singh, chief manager Somsai SBI, Hidam Langdaingamba Singh, dy. manager, RBO Imphal SBI, attended the program.
“In Northeast, pig meat is never adequate. In all the seven sisters states, 90 percent of pig meat comes from outside, whereas local production and local breed is a bare minimal” said Col. Bora. He continued by telling story about his school senior, Manush Kumar Basundhari, who resigned from being a bank manager in Delhi to set up piggery farm in 2014. “He started with 10 lakhs and now owns an asset worth about 50 crores. He is now helping more than 3000 Northeast farmer in India to establish their own farms,” added Col Bora.
Furthermore, he said that when he came to Ukhrul, almost two and a half years back, he was very motivated. He said he had visited more than 100 villages in Ukhrul district and observed that almost every household has a pig or two and the way the people look after the pigs here are hygienic and were taken good care of. However, he noted that the practice and raising of pig was unorganized and done in a traditional manner. Seeing the dedication and demand for pig meat in Ukhrul, he conducted training cum awareness program. He also requested to those who have acquired the knowledge of pig farming, to share it and not keep it to themselves.
The program was organized for people of Ukhrul district to take up more piggery farming and also seek subsidy loans from SBI and MSCB Bank.
Previously, entrepreneur workshop was conducted at Ukhrul COB in May 29, 2019. 20 farmers who got selected then for “on the job training” were sent to Commercial piggery Tour at Symbiotic Farm Pvt. Ltd in Tejpur, Assam on November 2019 under ARCAP (2019-2020).
Koireng BJohn Shaiza from Ukhrul and Jonathan Horam from Sihai village were among the farmers who attended the training in Tejpur. They came back and had successfully started their own piggeries.
In a conversation with Koireng and Jonathan, they both mentioned that the training was an eye opener for them. They expressed their gratitude to 27 AR for stepping up and helping the locals to such extend. They also said they are now looking forward for subsidy loans assured by SBI and MSCB as a means to upscale their piggery farms and also to encourage fellow villages to take similar steps.
At the conclusion of the productive program, SBI Officials led by 27 AR inspected the piggery farm of Koireng Bjohn Shaiza in Langdang village. “To set up a well established piggery sector in Ukhrul, it is essential to avoid mortality of pigs which can be a huge setback for the farmers and hence availability and distribution of vaccines and medicines is needed,” added Col. Bora.
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