Hundreds of duck farms line both banks of the Ghorautra river in Nikli upazila of Kishoreganj. In these temporary farms, built on the water with bamboo poles and net enclosures, native ducks swim all day and rest at night in huts built on the riverbank.

In the farmers' words, low capital, readily available natural feed (snails and mussels) and a little grain have made the sector a profitable source of income, changing the lives of many families in the haor region.

Besides Nikli, duck rearing in rivers and haor waters during the monsoon is growing fast in the other haor upazilas of Itna, Mithamain, Austagram and Tarail, bringing economic prosperity and creating new jobs.

According to local and district livestock office sources, farms in Kishoreganj's haor region produce about 2 crore duck eggs a year. After meeting the district's needs, about 25 percent of the country's total demand for duck eggs comes from here. The eggs are supplied to Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and other big cities, and haor duck meat is also very popular across the country.

Around the eggs, more than a hundred hatcheries have grown up in the Damiha area of Tarail upazila. Using the husk or steam method, they produce a total of 2 to 2.5 lakh ducklings a day, which are sent to local farms and various districts of the country.

Kishoreganj now has about 2,000 farms raising more than 25 lakh ducks. There are about 1,500 farmers or entrepreneurs, and about 12,000 families benefit directly or indirectly from the sector. Total annual output is about 2 crore eggs.

Farmers complain that when disease strikes their ducks, they cannot get veterinary help quickly. They want a mobile vet service, help with vaccines and medicines, low-interest loans, feed and egg collection centres, and assured fair prices.

Those involved say that with government patronage and better market links, haor duck rearing need not remain just a local livelihood; it could become a major economic sector for the country.

Nikli farmer Alamgir Hossain told Jagonews: "Farming on the water needs no separate land. We release the ducks into net and bamboo enclosures. Snails and grain meet most of their needs. Costs are low, so we make a good profit in the season."

Rabeya Khatun of Mithamain told Jagonews: "Wholesalers take our duck eggs straight to Dhaka and Chattogram. But when there is disease we can't get a doctor quickly. If there were a mobile vet team, the losses would be much smaller."

Shahadat Hossain, a hatchery entrepreneur in the Damiha area of Tarail, said: "There are many hatcheries in Damiha now. We can hatch thousands of ducklings every day. If the electricity supply were stable and there were a permanent collection centre, the work could be done on a much bigger scale."

Kishoreganj district livestock officer Dr Md Abdul Mannan said: "Duck meat and eggs produced in the haor waters are pure, tasty and nutritious, so demand in the market is always high. Farmers are being given training, vaccination, advice and other necessary support to develop this promising sector."

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