Pipi breaks gender stereotype, takes up piggery successfully
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 22 2020: Women in the contemporary period are advancing in various fields and are going at par with the menfolk.

The time has gone where women were confined in their houses engrossed in household chores only.

Nowadays women are excelling in many fields, be it in farming, be it as an entrepreneur and even in Government services which is indeed a major change thereby making them self-reliant and independent.

One such woman who motivates not only other women but also the upcoming youths is 28 years old Pipi Keithellakpam.

She is a daughter of Keithellakpam Budha and Geeta of Bijoygovinda Thangapat Aroiba.

Pipi bought some acres of land in Luker Mamang Leikai in Lamshang, Imphal West and opened a piggery farm breeding around 300 pigs at the moment.

After the completion of her graduation from Thambal Marik College, she focussed on breeding pigs since 2016.She started off with just 5 pigs and now the number has increased to around 300 .

The breed of pigs in her farm includes large white yorkshire, large black yorkshire and hampshire.

Pipi told this reporter that she resorted to piggery after exploring several jobs which can be a reliable source of income instead of wasting time waiting for Government jobs.

She is also against the ongoing trend of bribery to get Government jobs.

Breeding pigs and supplying piglets not only helps her but is also beneficial to others who want to rear pigs thereby generating a source of income for them and she also wants to provide good quality meat to the public as well.

At present there are around 300 pigs in her farm.

A pig gives birth to not less than 10-15 piglets at a time.

Then she will keep back the female piglets and sell off the male piglets which in turn helps in feeding the pigs and to build pig sty.

She further stated that she had borne many hardships during this endeavour.

She endured many difficult times when she did not get vehicles for going to the farm and return home as it is quite far from her home.

Initially she didn't get support from her family members which added to her woes.

She was the lone worker in the farm collecting foods for the pigs from different localities and finding places for feasts where she can collect the leftover foods in bulk.

Now she is able to employ people to help her in the farm.

Currently she is employing 6 people providing around 5-10 thousand rupees per month.

Every month, new piglets are born and she is able to sell 30 piglets in a month.

She used to sell one piglet at around Rs 5000 per piglet however the rate has increased to 6500-7000 rupees during the lockdown.

Though the rate has increased, it is quite difficult to collect kitchen waste due to the ongoing pandemic therefore huge sums are gone in buying pig feed.

Kitchen wastes are fed to the pigs reared for meat and concentrated feeds to those who are reared for the purpose of breeding.

Pipi did not undergo any official training for piggery.

She started off without any knowledge.

But now she has gained much information and experiences over the time, the pros and cons of it.

Around 250 youths have started piggery farming after taking suggestions and piglets from her.

At times, she requested the ICAR and Veterinary Director to provide piggery training to those youths who are interested in this field as she incurred many losses as she didn't have proper knowledge at the initial stage and she does not want others to face the same fate.

"No one wants to be a farmer as farming is something which is looked down upon as an inferior job.

In fact it is not true, there is nothing to be ashamed of in working, be it farming or any other profession.

One who is lazy and idles around will never be successful in life.

Instead of waiting for Government jobs, we should self-employ ourselves and work for a progressive future", she added.

Lastly, she appealed to the youths not to waste time but make Manipur a self-reliant State.

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