Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Sultan Salauddin Tuku has directed the Department of Livestock Services' Central Poultry Farm in Mirpur, Dhaka, to increase its production of improved-breed day-old chicks (DOC). During a surprise inspection on Saturday, 19 September, he also ordered more effective management of the farm, quick repair of sheds that are no longer fit for use, and steps to resolve a shortage of staff.

The state minister toured the farm's sheds, hatchery and feed mill and took briefings from officials on chick production, the sale of chicks and eggs, and feed manufacturing. Projects taken up for the farm's development must be put to proper use, he said, and management must be tightened so that output rises.

Explaining why the farm matters, Tuku said the chicks produced there are collected by small-scale farmers, who rear and sell them. The more chicks the farm produces, the more those marginal farmers gain, and the more the farm contributes to meeting the country's demand for animal protein.

On the instability in the market for chicks, he said raising production at the state farm would help ease shortages and price swings. For that, improved-breed chick production and the supply chain to marginal farmers both need to be strengthened, he added.

Several rearing sheds were found unusable during the visit and the state minister ordered them repaired without delay. He also checked whether staff were arriving on time and what the attendance rate was, and reviewed the progress of the farm's development projects.

A large share of Bangladesh's poultry output comes from small farms, and a reliable supply of quality chicks at an affordable price from the public farm is meant to shield those farmers from the volatility of the commercial chick market.

Present at the inspection were Ferdousi Ahmed, MP for a reserved women's seat; Md Shahjaman Khan, Director General of the Department of Livestock Services; Zinat Sultana, director of the Central Poultry Farm; project director Abdur Rahim; and assistant director (goat farms) Dr Kabir Uddin Ahmed, along with other officials. The report is from Agri Barta.

Source: Agri Barta