Cattle farmers eye good profit

With the decrease in cattle supply from India, cattle farmers of eight northern districts under Rangpur division are expecting good profit from locally reared sacrificial animals during Eid-ul-Azha this year.

The demand for sacrificial animals this year is around 4.5 lakh in eight districts of Rangpur region, said Rangpur Department of Livestock Deputy Director (DD) Mir Faruk Hossain.

There are 1,10,520 large and small commercial cattle farms in the region, of which, 33,155 are in Rangpur and 17,586 in Nilphamari. Around 5.7 lakh cattle, including 1,76,125 goats and sheep, are being reared at these farms, he added.

There are more than one lakh cattle surplus in Rangpur region, so there will no shortage of sacrificial animals this year, Faruk said.

Rafiqul Islam, a cow farmer of Kamalpur village under Sadar upazila, said he is rearing 10 cows and fattening them the natural way. Traders are already communicating with him to buy his cows, he added.

“Dependence on Indian cattle must go,” Rafiqul said, adding that they are expecting good profit, but traders could suffer huge losses if sacrificial animals come from India.

Buying and selling at cattle markets are yet to gain momentum due to the flood, farmers said.

Traders said prices of sacrificial animals could be high due to shortage of fodder caused by excessive rain and flood in the region.

Selim Uddin of Shakhati village under Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat said he spent Tk 20,000 in the last two months for fodder for one cow, adding that he has been rearing it for seven months using natural fattening method. “I have got an offer of Tk 90,000 for the cow,” he added.

Mizanur Rahman of Kaunia upazila of Rangpur said some people are allegedly using pills for fattening their cows. He urged the local administration to look into the matter.

Joynal Abedin of Nilphamari Sadar and Fazlul Haq of Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat said rearing cost has gone up this year due to the high price of fodder. If cattle come from India, their dream of good profit will be destroyed, he added.

DD Faruk said his office is working round the clock to ensure healthy cattle for this festival, adding that field level officials are working to prevent use of cattle fattening pills.

Commanding Officer of Joypurhat BGB-20 Battalion Lt Col Imtiaz Choudhury said smugglers along the border districts are becoming active to bring cow fattening pills from India illegally, adding that members of Joypurhat and Dinajpur Border Guard Bangladesh seized nearly 5 lakh pills in the last two months.