From stigma to success: Piggery helps rake in moolah

The road to success was not easy for this progressive farmer from Kotli village in Ludhiana district. Sukhwinder Singh Grewal had not expected that taking the unconventional path of rearing pigs against societal expectations in the 1990s would lead to broken ties with relatives and friends. Not only that, it also resulted in his late marriage, as piggery was considered a disgraceful profession at the time.

He started by rearing three pigs and today he has more than 300. All those who had once distanced themselves from him now meet him after seeking an appointment. He has a huge market in the North-East, where pork consumption is higher.

Alongside piggery, he has also started rearing ‘desi’ chickens. He operates a hot pot van stationed on the National Highway and many NRIs travelling to and from Delhi Airport relish the home-made chicken he prepares. He also sells raw chicken, pork and chicken pickle.

“I belong to a marginal middle-class family and had only one acre of land. We had 3-4 buffaloes to meet our household’s milk requirements and my father took up truck driving to make ends meet. After completing my Class 12 and a diploma in Mechanical Engineering, I decided to take up dairy farming and also joined a course at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), where I learnt about adopting piggery as a profession,” he said.

He began planning the venture, after a month, underwent training for it. However, in the process, he lost support from family and friends, and relatives stopped speaking to him, as piggery was looked down upon in those days.

“Without caring about anyone, I began my journey and kept moving forward. I started my farm with two sows and one wild boar by investing Rs 15,000. Today, I have 300 pigs on my farm and my own trucks to supply them to North-Eastern states like Nagaland and Mizoram. I sell between 800-1,000 piglets and fatty pigs annually and also sell 20 per cent of the pigs after processing, in the form of meat and pickle. My earnings today are around Rs 80 lakh to one crore annually,” he said.

Grewal has reared a number of breeds at his farm and his white Yorkshire pigs have won several awards at the district and state levels. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has been a constant support to him and his profession. He also won the Progressive Farmer Award during the Pashu Palan Mela.

Following his success, many youngsters in his village are also trying their hand at adopting piggery as a profession.

Sukhwinder runs the Indo-Canadian Swine Breeders farm at Kotli village and has employed many unemployed youths alongside him in his business. “If one dreams of doing something unique and excelling in it, one can easily do so with effort and consistency,” he said.

Ludhiana