A trader in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj was fined Tk 5,000 for buying sick chickens cheaply and selling them at a profit, and more than a hundred sick and dead birds were buried.
Mahouts in Narail are openly collecting Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500 a day by taking elephants onto roads and into markets, with many people paying out of fear or embarrassment.
Jhalakathi's food department collected only 15 tonnes of paddy against a 1,689-tonne target because market prices were higher than the government rate, but it met its rice procurement target in full.
Broiler chicken prices in Dhaka have fallen by Tk 50 to Tk 60 a kg over three days, but egg prices have risen by up to Tk 10 a dozen.
Bangladesh Poultry Association, which represents marginal farmers, alleges that corporate poultry firms made Tk 936 crore in 52 days by raising the prices of chickens and chicks.
The director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection says there is no justification for broiler chicken to cost more than Tk 200 a kg for consumers.
Farmer Sentu Chandra Hajong of Sherpur has bred 23 new local rice varieties over 17 years of research at home, and hundreds of farmers now grow them.
As across the country, the chicken market in Rangpur is unstable and egg prices have risen, putting pressure on low-income people ahead of Ramadan.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection has told the commerce secretary that broiler chicken is selling at twice its production cost and should not cost more than Tk 200 a kg.
Broiler chicken prices in Dhaka have risen by Tk 30 to Tk 40 a kg in three days to Tk 280-290, a record, even as Ramadan approaches.
Jamal Khan, who lost his mother at 10 and could not finish primary school, built a nursery in Rupganj with Tk 1.2 lakh saved from selling fish fry and now earns more than Tk 5 lakh a year.
Farmers in Jhenaidah say they cannot get day-old chicks even at high prices, leaving most farms empty, while the district livestock officer says there is no shortage.
Speaking at a 12-party alliance human chain in Dhaka, Mostafa Jamal Haider said a silent famine is under way and broiler chicken has reached Tk 250.
