state’s only duck farm with a rearing capacity of 11000 birds is under army occupation, with the government and troops ducking out on its vacation. Shahnawaz Khan reports.
Established in late seventies by Animal Husbandry Department, the Government Duck Farm Sumbal aimed to boost quality duck farming in the state especially in the Sumbal Sonawari belt which has vast marshy lands suitable for ducks.
The farm located in Inderkote Sumbal spread over 22 kanals with a big pond in front soon turned out to be a good success story.
Rearing White Peckin breed imported from England the farm’s objective was to supply quality ducks, ducklings and eggs to district poultry centres for multiplication and for sale to farmers.
Earlier the department has run some small farms in Hajin, and Umarhair (Srinagar) where they reared the Khakhi Campbell breed but the Sumbal farm was an all new experiment.
“The White Peckin was a table bird- like the broiler in hens- and unlike the Khakhi Campbell where people complained of a peculiar odour, this one tasted good. It can grow to a big size, almost 8 to 9 kg,” says G L Matoo former director Animal Husbandry.
The Sumbal farm was also large and used latest technology for production.
By early 80’s the farm was inching closer to its capacity of 11000 adult birds, besides producing a regular crop of ducklings and eggs.
It would sell birds for hatching as well as for its meat. Eggs became popular among bakers.
Matoo says the farm supplied ducks throughout the valley as there was a good demand for the crop.
The farm employed high end equipments which included two incubators supplied by Western Incubators Essex England, hatchers and feed mixing plant.
The vast complex had residential and attendant quarters for its staff, office space, in addition brooders with 17 pens, hatchery, hay store, feed mill, and other required facilities.
While the farm would go through its own phases of ups and downs in production and performance, it got a major blow in 1988 with the outbreak of duck cholera.
“The farm was temporarily shifted to Athwajan after cholera outbreak, but after the outbreak of insurgency the work was further hit. Later it was occupied by troops,” says Matoo.
The entry of troops in the farm in 1992, made any chances of recovery bleak. For some years the troops would allow the department staff to operate from the premises.
“The farm and troop camp operated side by side from the complex. But it was not possible for the farm to work on production with troops occupying its facilities. At best we had access to office, and that was it,” says an official.
By 1998 the limited access was also denied. The troops prohibited the entry of any staff, and occasional access of officers involved hassling official communications with the occupying battalion commanders.
Occupation changed hands too from Rashtriya Rifles to CRPF to Territorial Army and so on. Often the department had no idea which company or battalion was occupying the farm.
In November 2009 when the department approached 13 Rashtriya Rifles (KUMAON) with a request for access to the farm so that it can shift some of the equipments from there, the company denied its occupation of the farm. Instead it told the department that the farm was held by E Coy of 162 Battalion (TA).
However, the E Coy 162 also denied its presence. The Company Commander SS Brar replied that the Battalion was raised in 2004, while the farm is under occupation since 1999.
Officials say, currently the farm is occupied by 13 RR.
The troops on their part apparently found it improper to stay in a duck farm. So they removed the hoarding of the duck farm and renamed it as Surinder Singh Complex.
Besides losing access to their farm, officials are worried that they may have lost expensive machineries at the farm.
“We did remove a Western hatcher and few things to other places after troops occupied it, but there still were some machines left out there, and all the records were there too,” said an official associated with the farm.
Some officials suspect that the troops may have sold expensive machines as scrap.
“The outer wall of the complex has been broken at places, and it seems they (troops) may have smuggled out the equipments from there,” added the official asking not to be named.
The department’s efforts to get the farm vacated have not borne any fruit so far.
In April the Sonawari MLA and speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone also wrote to the GOC 15 Corps for relocation of the 13 RR unit from the farm so that the vital project of public importance was revived.
Matoo says the revival of the duck farm is possible only after troops vacate and adds it is very difficult to set up a farm elsewhere.
“The Sumbal farm has a pond close to it, which is very important. It is an ideal place for the farm. It involves lots of infrastructure, which was already present in the farm,” says Matoo.
Matoo adds that the department has around 26000 sq ft floor space of different poultry farms occupied by the troops, and had requested the government to help in getting these vacated.
