| Summary: | "People used to call me lazy and useless. I was unsuccessful in every aspect of my life and felt completely defeated," says Dilip Kumar Roy, a 48-year-old farmer from Dharmopal village in Jaldhaka, Nilphamari. "Now, those same people come to me for my advice about raising livestock. It feels good to be respected finally." Just a year ago, Dilip’s life looked very different. He was struggling to support his wife, Smoroni Mohon Roy, and their two daughters on a limited income. With no formal training in farming or livestock management, he stuck to what he knew— growing rice, potatoes, and maize on his 200 decimals of land. He also reared five cows and some poultry birds, but the income from these wasn’t enough to cover his family’s expenses. Things went from bad to worse when a duck-rearing venture he invested in failed miserably, wiping out much of his savings. “I kept on making losses after losses,” Dilip recalls. “No matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work.”
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