Home ›› 17 Jun 2023 ›› Nation
By virtue of house-to-house cattle and goat farming everywhere, the district has become home of surplus sacrificial animals counting to around 1.5 lakh in Rajshahi district compared to its demand.
Dr Nazrul Islam, divisional director of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), said the region needs around two lakh animals to meet up the demand for sacrifice but it has around three and a half lakh animals eligible for the purpose.
The local animal husbandry sector has marked a revolutionary boost in recent years following massive steps taken by the government and different development organisations.
In both rural and urban areas, the poor and marginalised people including women have achieved tremendous success in the sector getting various assistance from the government and development partners.
Artificial insemination of cows is gaining popularity in the region following significant achievements in improving the breeding system.
Due to the cross-breeding, the cows are giving milk 10 times more than the previous record, said Arafat Hossain, a successful dairy farmer in the city.
He said the producers have adopted new and improved practices and technologies in bull rearing and fattening contributing to enhanced production and productivity.
The size of the market has expanded due to the growing active role of large and small-scale private companies.
Line Agencies have become proactive towards supporting market actors especially Local Service Providers by dint of their complementary roles in extension services.
In practice, the LSPs provide training, advice and input to the producers and earn an average of Tk 4,500 per month. Routinely, they extend different modern technology to the producers by setting up demonstration plots in the locality.
Besides, they organise community meetings with the help of private companies for building awareness about quality inputs.
Service contracts were established to provide regular necessary services and inputs to the farmers.
Professor Jalal Uddin Sarder from the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Rajshahi University said that the venture promotes various value-additional activities of bull fattening which reflected a sustainable economic change for the poorest people, particularly women.
Many rural families have been rearing and fattening bulls commercially and earning huge profits every year. In the wake of the expansion of modern technology, the animal husbandry sector is flourishing in the areas boosting the local economy that reduces the import of sacrificial animals from India, he added.
Meanwhile, necessary preparations for selling and buying sacrificial animals are being progressed in full swing at present in the local cattle markets.
Importance has been given to the selling and buying of animals through following social distancing and other safety guidelines on behalf of the local administration and DLS.
This time, the government has a restriction on the import of animals from the neighbouring country, Dr Jalal Sarder added. On the other hand, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has intensified vigilance against cattle smuggling along the Rajshahi frontiers to avert any sort of intrusion of cattle heads from the neighbouring country.
