Two friends in Keshtapur village, Pirganj upazila, Thakurgaon, Abdul Majid and Nazrul Islam, started a joint farm three years ago with 40 ducks. They now keep several thousand and say eggs, ducklings and fish together bring in Tk 25-30 lakh a year.
It did not come easily. Abdul Majid says profits were thin at first, ducks died of disease and they did not know what to do. Nazrul Islam says inexperience cost them money early on, and that they then took training in various places.
They began raising ducks and fish together in ponds, with the duck droppings serving as fish feed. Later they started hatching eggs in an incubator and selling ducklings commercially, and income rose.
Six people work on the farm on an average day. One of them, Abu Bakkar, has spent two years feeding the ducks, collecting eggs and clearing droppings. He says his pay has gone from Tk 7,000 to Tk 12,000 a month.
People come from far away to see the farm, and Nazrul Islam offers them advice. Jahangir Alam, the Pirganj upazila livestock officer, says his office visits the farm regularly and gives guidance.
Photo: Belayet2014 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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