Valche’s Sheep Farm: From Breed Improvement to Tourism Promotion

लगानी न्यूज

९ भाद्र २०८३, मंगलवार १२:३४August 25, 2026

. Those who reach Kispang do not return without visiting the sheep farm in Valche. Regular domestic and foreign tourists come here to observe the beautiful scenery and to see the Baruwal sheep farm.

Kispang Rural Municipality-1 of Nuwakot is the main breed improvement center for the breed improvement of the Baruwal breed. The centre, which is under the government’s National Livestock Resource Management and Promotion Office, is located at an altitude of two thousand meters above sea level.

To reach here, one has to cross 101 km from Kathmandu.TAG_OPEN_div_61 The centre has 660 ropanis of land. There are currently 354 sheep in the remaining pastures and ample grazing area.

Dr. Shyam Krishna Tiwari, chief of the resource center, said that the sheep would be sold to the sheep farmers group only for breeding.TAG_OPEN_div_59 Currently, two farmers from Nuwakot and four from Dhading and Rasuwa have been purchasing lambs from here for breeding.

There is a specific method for this. After the application of the farmers’ group and the recommendation of the ward, the resource center sells the sheep by asking them to pay the revenue. The lambs produced at the center are sold to the farmers as per the demand.

In addition, seed seedlings of perennial grasses (ryegrass, cetaria, kikyu and paspalum) are also produced and sold.TAG_OPEN_div_55 Tiwari said that there are one thousand sheep of all groups here. Apart from rearing and selling sheep, the center has also been providing training to farmers in terms of wool-cutting scissors, sheep rearing tarpaulin, raincoat and other equipment.

“Our job description is to motivate farmers to increase their production rather than raising sheep themselves,” he says.TAG_OPEN_div_53 This center has been opened for the protection of sheep of Baruwal breed. It is enough for us to have a minimum of two hundred sheep, but we have set a target of increasing the number of sheep to five hundred as the grazing area is enough for at least one thousand sheep. ”

The Genetic Resource Center has been conducting various programs at the national level to increase the productivity of sheep, protect and promote the quality of life of the local people.TAG_OPEN_div_51 Although the center is mainly focused on sheep rearing and the conservation and improvement of sheep genetic resources, Murrah Cross Buffalo and Jersey bull have also been kept with the objective of providing natural breeding services to the cattle and buffaloes keeping in mind the demand of the local farmers.

A team comprising Kispang Rural Municipality Acting Chairman Arjun Prasad Neupane, Chief Administrative Officer Kedar Prasad Khatiwada, popular singer Thaneshwor Gautam, Nepali Communist Party (NCP) central member Buddhi GC, Rastriya Swatantra Party Kispang Rural Municipality President Shiva Prasad Bhatta, Kispang Polytechnic School Chief Binod Neupane and media persons recently visited the sheep farm TAG_OPEN_div_49 ।

Chief Administrative Officer Khatiwada said that the rural municipality is working to make the sheep farm an additional tourist center and to develop necessary tourism infrastructure.TAG_OPEN_div_47

Since its establishment, the center has been improving the breed of local Baruwal sheep, producing improved breed sheep and providing breedable lambs to the farmers.TAG_OPEN_div_45 Before the establishment of the Sheep Development Farm, there was a government cowshed in this area, also known as the ‘King’s Cowshed’. Milk, curd, butter and ghee produced from cows reared there were sent to Kathmandu Durbar.

{{TAG_OPEN_div_43} The then His Majesty’s Government, Ministry of Agriculture had established a sheep farm with the objective of breed improvement of local barren sheep and increase in meat and wool production. After the establishment of the farm, a study and research was carried out to produce hybrid lambs by breeding local female sheep from foreign breed sheep that produce good wool.

The farm was renamed the Sheep Genetic Resource Center after the devastating earthquake.TAG_OPEN_div_41 In 2027÷28 B.S., cross breeding was done between Australian poleworth and local porcupine sheep and 50 percent cross sheep production and various studies were started.

The farm also prioritized the production and distribution of improved breed of sheep.TAG_OPEN_div_39 The programme became more active after the then King Birendra Shah on June 10, 2030 BS visited the farm and directed for its expansion.

Since 2030÷31, the improved breed lambs produced on the farm were distributed to local farmers and to various districts of the country for breeding.TAG_OPEN_div_36 The Rasuwa-Nuwakot Integrated Rural Development Project came into operation in 2035÷36 BS with the financial assistance of the World Bank.

} Under the same project, 10 sheep of the French Merino Darley breed, eight four-month-old lambs and two lambs, were brought from France in February 2036. As the expected growth and development of other breeds has not taken place, only the goat sheep are being kept at the resource center.

Prakash Silwal/RSS