Farmers in the districts are increasingly getting attracted towards the dairy business.

The farmers, who earlier struggled to even meet their daily expenses, have now been able to spend on other areas such as their children’s education.

Prem Lal BK of Vyas Municipality 9 is an example. Besides financing two meals a day to his family, he has been able to send his five children to school.

He said he had earlier been planning to go for foreign employment, but later dropped the idea after he came to know that a local farmers’ cooperative would finance dairy businesses. “Besides financing, the cooperative has been providing me with technical support,” he said.

BK had taken a loan of Rs60,000 Dumsi Dairy Cooperative when he started his business a decade ago. He said he has now repaid the entire loan.

Another farmer Prajapati Sapkota shared a similar story. He said his son too dropped the idea of going for foreign employment and started raising cows. “Our living standard has improved since we started dairy farming,” he said. Over the last six decades, the dairy cooperative has funded 276 members. “People involved in this business have been able to lead a happy life,” said Dayaram Sharma, manager of Dumsi Dairy Cooperative. “It has largely been able to stop people from going abroad.”

The cooperative sells 1,300 litres milk daily on an average. It collects milk farmers at Damauli Bazar. Sharma said they deduct the farmers’ loans amount from their daily earnings.

The cooperative has also been providing bonus of Rs32,000-35,000 to each member.

Amar Bahadur Kunwar, president of the District Cooperative Association, underscored the need for expanding the practice of farming through cooperatives.