Buffalo farms at the sand bars of Meghna

Buffalo farms have been set up at Dakshin Kodalpur of Gosairhat upazila of Shariatpur. Photo: Prothom Alo
Buffalo farms have been set up at Dakshin Kodalpur of Gosairhat upazila of Shariatpur. Photo: Prothom Alo

Two buffalo farms have been set up at the sand bars of Meghna river at Gosairhat upazila of Shariatpur.

The vast pastures there offer an ideal place for raising cattle and a new opportunity has emerged.

About 800 buffaloes are now being raised at the farms in Dakshin Kodalpur area of Kodalpur union in the upazila.

Earlier, the local farmers raised only cows and goats at Shariatpur. The total number of cattle is about 400,000 in the region, district veterinary office and local sources said.

Last year for the first time, a group of farm owners from Lakshmipur district built two farms along the sand bars.

District livestock department official, Subodh Kumar Das, said the Padma and the Meghna, two big rivers, flow through Shariatpur district.

He said there are at least 25 sand bars at different places of the rivers and there are several thousand pastures in those areas.

The livestock official said pastures are ideal grazing grounds for the buffaloes and they can be raised in low cost.

Subodh Kumar Das said the livestock department will give all sorts of assistance to raise buffaloes.

Akub Ali from Saheber Char of Lakshmipur set up a farm with 450 buffaloes last year. Some 70 buffaloes are now producing milk which is sold at Tk 100 per kg in Noakhali. "I've taken some land of the char (sand bars) on rent for the farm. Local meat traders also buy buffaloes from the farm.”

"There are many pastures in Shariatpur. It’s profitable to build farms in those areas," said another farm owner Jakir Hossain while explaining why he set up the farm coming from a long distance of Lakshmipur.

“It's a good initiative. If the local farm owners are proactive, we can assist them,” said Mizanur Rahman, chairman of Kodalpur union.