Kathmandu, Jan 27: Tara Prasad Pathak has won the title of Cow Milking Reality Show, a first of its kind competition held in Nepal.
The show was organized among farmers of Bharatpur Metropolitan City in Chitwan, with 20 farmers shortlisted for the contest.
The reality show was broadcast on AP1 Television, the Mero Serofero YouTube channel, and disseminated by Synergy FM Chitwan.
Basudev Paudel secured second place, while Mathura Mahato finished third. Dhanamaya Bhandari received a consolation prize.
Before taking up livestock farming, Pathak was engaged in other occupations and had once been defrauded while pursuing his dream of traveling to the United States. Similarly, Mahato recovered from alcohol abuse while livestock rearing has long been the primary and main occupation of Bhandari and her family.
According to the organizers, the objective of the show is to establish cow farmers as “brand ambassadors” of milk, helping to make their profession dignified and respected. The evaluation criteria included milking techniques and skills, animal care, fodder management, cleanliness of cowsheds, and milk purity. Winners were selected based on these standards, said programme producer Rabin Subedi.
The winners were awarded agricultural tools as encouragements. The jury panel comprised senior agricultural economics expert of Bharatpur Metropolitan City Tejendra Prasad Paudel, Agriculture and Forestry University lecturer Shagraughan Shah, Vice Chair of the Central Dairy Producers’ Cooperative Association Bhagirath Timilsina, and technical officer at the National Cow Research Programme, Rampur, Dr Yagya Raj Pandey.
