Karnataka - Mangalore   

Single-cow dairy pays rich dividends

Special Correspondent

A model entrepreneur for enterprising farmers

A SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD: Sanjiva Bunta and his cow

MANGALORE: It is a typical case of small is beautiful that illuminates the saying "A single rose can be my garden." But in the case of Sanjiv Bunta of Moodambailu in Bantwal taluk it can be altered to "A single cow can be my dairy."

This single-cow dairy earns him Rs. 42,000 a year. Sanjiv Bunta is a farmer and has one cow, owns 0.34 ha of irrigated land, and 0.24 ha of rain-fed land and has 1 ha hectare land under "user rights" where he has planted cashew nut and trees. He has taken up a multiple cropping system that includes areca nut, coconut, black pepper, banana, breadfruit, pineapple, cocoa, vanilla and vegetables. A few apiary colonies are also there. The farm has adopted rainwater harvesting.

Mr. Bunta's farm was already self-sufficient. When he added a cow, it made the farm greener and more prosperous. He now has a biogas unit that releases enough slurry to be used as compost. Mr. Bunta and his wife work on the farm and that saves him labour cost.

It is a model single-cow dairy unit, says Krishnamoorthy, Director of the Varanasi Research Foundation of Adyanadka in Bantwal taluk, who has studied Mr. Bunta'a micro-integrated farm. Dr. Krishnamoorthy says Mr. Bunta has made use of all the elements of rural life in a small integrated farming system that sustains a family and is run on internal resources.

If the savings on labour costs are added, Mr. Bunta's annual income is Rs. 64,000.

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