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A dairy farmer by chance

Namita Patojoshi bought a cow to avoid the high costs of milk. From selling surplus milk to neighbours, her cattle shed has grown into a large dairy farm. Having educated her three children, she now aims to educate her staff’s kids.

Jul 18, 2022 Koraput, Odisha

Namita Patojoshi never dreamed that she would open a dairy farm and become an entrepreneur.

I never dreamed that I’d be an entrepreneur some day.

I was born in a poor family in Jeypore. My father was an electrical lineman and my mother was a homemaker. 

I was the eldest, with a brother and sister after me. My father somehow managed to educate me till Class XII. 

My parents got me married when I was just 17. After marriage, I came to Koraput to stay with my husband. 

Though my husband had a government job, his salary was too paltry. So I also became a teacher in a private school. 

But my income was also limited. So it was difficult for us to run the family. 

She decided to buy a cow to feed her children with pure milk.

I used to buy two litres of cow’s milk every day for my kids – two daughters and son. A litre cost Rs 10. I was spending Rs 600 a month on milk! It was too much for a poor family like ours. 

I decided to buy a cow to feed my children with pure milk and save that Rs 600. 

I mortgaged my gold chain and purchased a cow for Rs 600.  

The cow gave 7 litres of milk every day. I kept 2 litres for my children and sold the rest to my neighbours – Rs 10 per litre. I earned Rs 50 per day. 

Then I took a loan of Rs 8,000 from the bank and bought another cow. I cleared the loan within 10 months.

As the milk was unadulterated people started crowding outside her house and her dairy farm business started flourishing. 

Soon people started crowding outside my house for pure unadulterated milk.  My business started flourishing. 

I named my farm as Kanchan Dairy Farm after my mother-in-law. 

During the initial days, I used to do all the work – from milking the cows to cleaning the cow dung.

Now I have 130 lactating cows. I get around 600 litres every day and sell it to around 500 customers in Koraput town. 

We sell the milk at Rs 60 per litre. We charge just Rs 5 extra for home delivery in the radius of 4 km. 

People flock to my dairy. Demand often exceeds supply because of the good quality milk we offer. 

We also sell milk products like paneer (cottage cheese) and curd.

Now her dairy farm has 27 staff members out of which 18 are women.

I have 27 staff members now. Eighteen of them are women as I believe in women’s empowerment. I have young girls who go for door-to-door delivery.

My staff members stay with their families in the quarters we provide. 

I’m proud of my business because I managed to educate my children with the money earned from my dairy. 

My children are now well-settled and are into corporate jobs. My eldest daughter is settled in the USA. 

I want to educate my staff’s children and help them stand on their own feet. I’ve achieved success and now I want them to succeed too.

Reporting and photography by Gurvinder Singh, a journalist based in Kolkata.