Kaski. Pokhara: Farmers in Pokhara Metropolitan City have received a grant of Rs 2.6 million in the last fiscal year 2081/82 BS for raising padis and calves. The Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Expert Centre under the Gandaki State government has provided the incentive amount to the farmers who rear calves and calves.

Shambhu Raj Pandey, senior animal development officer and chief of the expert centre, said the amount was provided last year for raising 260 padis and calves of 175 farmers.

According to him, a grant of Rs 10,000 has been provided. Last year, 188 farmers had applied for the programme. Last year, the Centre had implemented the programme in nine wards of Pokhara Metropolitan City. The programme was implemented in ward no. 2, 5, 6, 7, 17, 18, 22, 23 and 24 of Pokhara.

Pandey said the programme could not be implemented across the district due to limited budget. An incentive assistance programme has been running in Kaski for the past five years. He said, “The program of raising padi bachi has become the most effective in the district. This has helped in reducing the cost of farmers and developing improved breeds of local animals and becoming self-reliant in cattle in the country. Due to lack of budget, we have not been able to organize the program at the same time across the district. ’

Animal Development Officer Sahdev Poudel said that farmers can apply for the grant after the technicians prove that they are at least one year old with proof of birth from artificial insemination.

It is said that the aim is to end the situation of importing cows and buffaloes from outside by giving them subsidy by bringing incentive programs as the farmers have to face problems due to the increase in the cost of raising padis and calves and remove them from the cowshed in the beginning. It is believed that the program will be effective to end the current situation of importing cattle from abroad by raising the birds of advanced breeds and making them productive.

Shobhakhar Bhandari, a commercial farmer from Pokhara, said the government’s grant has helped in growing padibachhi and producing it. He urged the government to implement the programme in all the municipalities of the district.