Take a goat & return 4 lambs: Farmer starts Goat Bank in Maharashtra’s Akola
Pashudhan Praharee Network ,
Updated Feb 05, 2021 | Naresh Deshmukh started a goat bank to help boost agriculture industry by giving fully grown goats on loan to goat-rearing families.
Goat Bank Akola
A farmer in Maharashtra’s Akola district has come up with an innovative idea to boost the agriculture industry and help the farming community earn a better profit. Naresh Deshmukh, 52, has started the ‘Goat Bank of Karkheda’ in Sangavi Mohadi village of Akola district.Deshmukh, a graduate of Punjab Rao Krishi Vidyapeeth, launched the Goat Bank in July 2018 after he noticed how women farmers from economically weaker sections could afford to buy small pieces of land, educate their kids, even celebrate a marriage ceremony with the help of goat rearing.
He studied the families in goat rearing and came up with the idea of opening a bank to help organise the goat rearing sector.To avail a loan, a farmer has to make a loan agreement by paying Rs 1,200 as registration fee. The farmer taking a goat on loan has to return 4 lambs within a period of 40 months, as per the loan scheme.
To start the business, Deshmukh had spent Rs 40 lakh from his savings to buy 340 fully grown goats, India Today reported. These goats were then loaned to 340 goat rearing families in the area.As per the estimates, every family taking a goat on loan under this scheme would earn a profit of around Rs 2.5 lakhs.
