Almost every neighbourhood in Savar has a cattle farm, kept as a hobby or run commercially. Among them, an unusual buffalo farm has been found, with more than 300 buffaloes of various breeds. The owner says they are being raised for Eid-ul-Azha.

The farm, Kaium Agro Private Limited, stands beside the Sreepur bus stand under Ashulia police station in Savar upazila.

A visit on Wednesday (21 June) found the buffaloes tethered in rows in the sheds: Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Jafarabadi and pink albino buffaloes, sorted and kept separately by size.

At least 30 workers look after the animals. Some prepare feed, some bathe the buffaloes and others massage oil into their bodies.

A pair of strongly built buffaloes with an almost royal bearing stood out. Asked why these two were different, the farm's owner, Abdul Kayum, said they have names: one is Sultan and the other Pathan, chosen for the way they move and behave. Both are of the Jafarabadi breed from Gujarat in India, and each weighs more than 1,000 kg.

He said the animals are raised entirely by organic methods, and steroids or any fattening drugs are banned on the farm.

Asked how the buffaloes grew so large, he said they are fed only what an ordinary buffalo eats, such as concentrate feed and straw. "The difference is that we do not compromise on the quality of feed. We feed more of expensive, good-quality feed. And it is entirely a matter of care."

Sultan and Pathan eat about 30 to 35 kg of feed over three meals. They are bathed five or six times a day and massaged with mustard oil every other day so that their skin does not crack. Every animal on the farm is cared for in the same way, he said.

Md Shahed Hossain, senior assistant director of the Savar Buffalo Breeding and Development Farm, said people are becoming more health-conscious. Buffalo meat contains less than 2 per cent cholesterol, compared with more than 4 per cent in beef, and buffalo milk has almost twice the milk fat of cow's milk, which is very beneficial. With people paying attention to health, demand for buffaloes is gradually rising, he said.

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