Small and medium farmers in Bangladesh's fisheries and livestock sectors are in trouble as raw material prices keep rising. Small farms and feed mills in various parts of the country are on the verge of closing, and the crisis in this important part of agriculture is becoming clearer by the day.
After COVID, another blow
Barely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, these marginal farmers are again being ruined by crisis and losses.
The figures
In the past two years, soybean prices have risen by 88 per cent and other raw materials by up to 123 per cent. Total production costs, including raw materials, have risen by 3 to 4 taka per kilogram for broiler feed, 2.5 to 3.5 taka for layer feed, 3.5 to 4 taka for cattle feed, 2.5 to 3.5 taka for sinking fish feed and 4 to 5 taka for floating fish feed.
Calls for policy
Abu Bakkar Siddique, owner of Adarsha Agro Feed in Sagardighi, Ghatail, Tangail, said the industry is being destroyed day by day for lack of sound policy, a view shared by other farmers. They are looking to the upcoming budget, hoping the government will take the right policy steps to protect this sector.
Source: Shykh Seraj. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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