Fisheries and livestock adviser Farida Akhter has said buffalo curd has gained special recognition as a geographical indication (GI) product of Bangladesh. Buffalo are a national asset but have long been neglected, she said, and the government will do its utmost to ensure this neglect does not continue.

She said training farmers to produce not only curd but cheese and other products from buffalo milk would create new income opportunities for them. These products could also play an important role in the economy as exports.

She was speaking as chief guest at the Scientific Conference 2025, organised by the Bangladesh Buffalo Association at the Buffalo Breeding and Development Farm in Savar on Wednesday, 8 October.

The adviser said food production is built on agriculture and livestock together, but many people take food production to mean crop farming alone. With rising use of pesticides and herbicides in farming, cattle, goats and buffalo cannot eat the grass. Buffalo grazing land is shrinking in the name of increasing food production, which is not at all desirable. She stressed drawing up a specific policy on pesticide use and adopting integrated planning for food production.

Farida Akhter said buffalo have not been given their proper place in the list of livestock, and their importance in the livestock sector is still undervalued. The fall in the number of buffalo in the country is worrying, and the lack of grazing land has become a major obstacle to buffalo rearing.

The conference was chaired by the president of the Bangladesh Buffalo Association, Prof Dr Md Omar Faruk. Prof Dr Md Ruhul Amin, dean of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry at Bangladesh Agricultural University, spoke as guest of honour. Special guests were Nilufa Akter, additional secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Dr Md Abu Sufian, director general of the Department of Livestock Services; and Dr Shakila Faruk, director general of the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI). Scientists, senior government and private officials, farmer representatives and representatives of organisations providing buffalo services attended.

At noon the same day, the adviser inaugurated the newly built Central Artificial Insemination Laboratory on the premises of the Central Cattle Breeding and Dairy Farm in Savar. She then toured the laboratory and looked at its activities and modern facilities. Present were Dr Md Abu Sufian, director general of the Department of Livestock Services, Md Shahjaman Khan, director of the Central Artificial Insemination Centre, and other officials.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.