SHOPIAN: Livestock farmers in Shopian are facing shortage of fodder as according to them the fodder they were stocking was damaged because of untimely snowfall in November.
Farmers said that they used to use stored fodder by the end of December till April, but this year they ran two months short of the fodder as they were not able to rare livestock in November and December months.
“Now it looks winter will remain for around six months and we have to arrange more fodder as we now have to feed animals for three more months,” said Gul Muhammad Khan, who has five cows to earn livelihood.
Farmers said that the rate hike of paddy fodder after the shutdown was another reason that they were not able to buy fodder.”
“The rates of paddy fodder reached Rs 6000 per hundred this year which was highest ever,” said Abdul Rafi Dar, a villager from Shopian.

Raashid Hassan