A commercial buffalo farm
has been set up for the first time in the border town of Hili under Dinajpur
district.
Buffalos of Australian and Indian varieties are being
prepared at the farm for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha,
According to the upazila livestock officer of
Hakimpur, buffalos are a good source of protein and buffalo farming is quite
profitable through which one can be self-reliant.
Suman Mia is the owner of
the buffalo farm named ‘Ma Hajera Agro’ situated at Hili’s Camppatti area. Some
138 buffalos are being reared in the lead up to Eid-ul-Azha. Of these buffalos,
one named ‘Bulldozer’ weighs 1300 kilogram. Another one called ‘Big Boss’
weighs 1100 kg. The price of these two buffalos has been estimated at Tk 500,000
to Tk 550,000. Farmer Suman hopes to make a good profit providing that no
buffalos come to Bangladesh from India illegally.
“I
have been interested in rearing animals and birds since my childhood.
Therefore, instead of taking up a job, I started rearing cows and goats. I
started the buffalo farm as I incurred loss in the cattle farm. Buffalos suffer
from less diseases than cows. So, risk of loss is lesser in buffalo farming,”
said Suman Mia.
“We
came from Rajshahi to buy buffalos. WE have heard that a big buffalo farm has
been set up in Hili. If the price is right, we will buy several buffalos,” said
Yusuf Ali.
Hakimpur Upazila
Livestock Officer Dr Nasrin Khatun said, “For the first time, Hili has seen a
buffalo farm which is regularly inspected. The farmer is given advice
regularly. We are extending our all-out support for the expansion of the farm.”
“We will cooperate if
others want to begin buffalo farming,” she added.