AgribusinessOn the eve of Eid-ul-Azha in June 2023, the Cox's Bazar district livestock office counted 151,622 animals ready for sale against demand for 140,923, yet buyers at Eidgaon market complained of high prices and competed for small and medium local cattle.
Fisheries and livestock secretary Dr Nahid Rashid inspected sacrificial animal markets in Dhaka and told veterinary teams to keep sick animals out.
Nine deputy secretaries of the fisheries and livestock ministry will supervise veterinary medical teams and other work at Dhaka's sacrificial animal markets.
LivestockIn June 2023, a few days before Eid-ul-Azha, a black-and-white Australian cross bull its owner called 'Hero Alom' drew crowds at a cattle haat in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj. The owner said it weighed 30 maunds and asked Tk 25 lakh; the best offer so far, he said, was Tk 13 lakh.
The fisheries and livestock minister says Bangladesh has 21.41 lakh more sacrificial animals than the expected demand for Eid-ul-Azha.
Bangladesh has 1.25 crore animals ready for the coming Qurbani, so no imports are needed and border surveillance against illegal cattle entry has been stepped up, the livestock secretary said.
The Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute has developed BLRI Meat Chicken-1 (Subarna), a fast-growing meat bird with the taste and plumage of local chickens.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sh M Rezaul Karim said at the opening of a tree fair in Pirojpur that tree felling is upsetting the natural balance and people must plant more trees.
Those involved in Bangladesh's poultry industry now see its waste not as a problem but as a resource for fertiliser, biogas and electricity.
The first nationwide livestock exhibition, held in 499 upazilas, displayed a hundred kinds of animals and birds at its central venue in Dhaka.
The Department of Livestock Services is rolling out mobile veterinary clinics that will give farmers in 360 upazilas free emergency treatment for their animals.
The Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute has developed the Multi Colour Table Chicken, which tastes like local chicken, reaches about one kilogram in eight weeks and is now produced commercially.
A government livestock project on Bangladesh's coastal chars is giving trained women free ducks, chickens and sheep, helping them become small entrepreneurs.
