Dreamland Cattle and Dairy Farm has been set up in the Dal Sarak area beside the Natore-Bogura highway, seven kilometres from Natore town. The farm keeps unusual three-coloured buffaloes and white buffaloes. These albino Indian buffaloes are rare in Bangladesh.
The farm's owner, Alhaj Rekat Ali, said his farm has white buffaloes and buffaloes mixed in black, pink and white. They are mainly albino and "albino rivo" types. These Indian buffaloes are rare even in India itself, and he collected these unusual-looking animals from India purely as a hobby. Buyers and visitors crowd his farm every day to see them.
Sold at the farm, not the market
Rekat Ali said he does not take his cattle to market or sell them there. Buyers come to the farm, look them over and, if the price suits, buy cattle, buffaloes, goats and dumba sheep. But prices and the number of buyers are lower this year than in other years.
The farm has Sahiwal from Pakistan, Kasba, Ham Banker, Indonesian Lal Hundi and local breeds of cattle. It also rears goats and dumba sheep.
He said the farm has some large Indonesian cattle weighing 1,000 to 1,250 kg, which trade between Tk 15 lakh and Tk 30 lakh. The attractive albino buffaloes weigh from 550 kg to 850 kg and are being bought and sold for between Tk 3 lakh and Tk 8.5 lakh.
The farm's animals are raised entirely on local feed. He has grown grass on 20 bighas of land, and the cattle and buffaloes are also fed a mix of rice starch water, wheat bran, oilcake and Anchor powder. For this reason demand for the farm's animals is high.
Fewer buyers, higher costs
This year, however, there is no notable crowd of buyers. Prices of cattle, buffaloes, goats and dumba are lower than in other years, while feed and labour costs have risen, leaving farmers in difficulty.
A buyer who came from Naogaon said the prices he saw online seemed high, so he came directly to Rekat Ali's farm and bought a cow after seeing its size.
Rekat Ali said selling animals online is a hassle. Buyers can come to the farm, see the animal directly and buy it for a price that suits, which is much better and leads to few problems over bargaining.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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