Faridpur's Sultan, a 32-maund bull, has drawn everyone's attention ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. The owners are asking Tk 25 lakh for the Holstein Friesian bull, and the highest offer so far is Tk 18 lakh. Sultan is one of the biggest cattle in the district.

The bull is being raised at the Taheras Agro Farms Limited farm in Gerda village of Gerda union in Faridpur Sadar upazila.

According to the farm, Taheras Agro began in 2017 in a single tin shed. It was founded by Syed Akib Noshar and Syed Abrar Noshar, the two sons of Gerda residents Syed Noshar Ali and Tahera Noshar. At least 250 cattle are now raised in five large sheds on four and a half bighas of land. The two hobby farmers also keep horses, dumba sheep, castrated goats and foreign dog breeds.

For this Eid the farm has prepared 100 cattle of different weights, including 22 of 17 to 20 maunds and three of 23 to 25 maunds. At least eight workers look after them.

Sultan is black, four and a half years old and weighs 32 maunds. He stands about 70 inches tall and is 22 inches wide. Every day at noon at least three workers pull him on ropes from three sides to bring him out of the shed for a bath. After eight to 10 minutes of washing with a motor-driven hose, he is taken back to the shed and given green grass.

Farm manager Akbar Hossain said the bull was named Sultan. He is given at least 30 to 35 kg of fresh grass a day, plus concentrate made from the farm's own processed wheat, maize, chickpeas and khesari bran. Grass has been planted on at least 200 bighas of the farm's own and leased land in Gerda and several nearby villages, and fed to the animals. No other special feed or injections are given, which is why the farm's cattle are in greater demand than those of other farms, he said. Because no drugs or steroid hormones are used for fattening, if cattle prepared for one year's Eid are not sold, they are sold the following year.

Farm owner Syed Abrar Noshar told Jago News that Tk 25 lakh is being asked for the bull. Buyers come every day and quote different prices, but the highest offer so far is Tk 18 lakh. He claimed that Sultan is the biggest bull in the district.

Another director of the farm, Syed Akib Noshar, said: "We feed each animal all year and prepare it for the Eid market. At this time cattle come into the country through smuggling routes from Myanmar and India. If this is not stopped, it will be hard for local farmers to survive. And if the constantly rising price of cattle feed is not reined in, the pressure of staff costs, farm running and other expenses will make it hard to run farms. If the government pays a little attention to these two things, we local farmers can meet the country's demand and export meat abroad."

District livestock officer Sanjib Kumar Biswas told Jago News that the department had given all farmers maximum help and advice. Throughout the year it raised awareness and kept watch so that Faridpur farmers do not use harmful steroid hormones to fatten cattle, and it also trained them in scientific cattle rearing.

He said demand for sacrificial animals in Faridpur this year is 135,798, but far more animals are ready in the district. After meeting demand in Faridpur and neighbouring districts, they will be sold at markets in Dhaka, Chattogram and elsewhere.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Md Abdur Rahman, MP for Faridpur-1, told Jago News there is no shortage of animals in the country. About five lakh cattle were left unsold last year, and another four and a half lakh have been added this year. The country's demand is 1 crore 29 lakh animals, against a supply of more than 1 crore 30 lakh.

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