Beef fattening - blessing or threat?
We can hardly look at the rain outside and not feel the need to have khichuri and beef. But are we aware about how safe the beef is for our consumption? Apart from using cows for ploughing farmlands and milk production, cow farming contributes to the supply of meat across Bangladesh. Beef fattening was introduced as a commercial initiative years ago in the country. It's been ages that farmers followed traditional fattening strategies. But, at one stage, scientists invented new technologies for fattening cows. In the course of time, cow fattening became a commercially attractive venture. Around the country, many seasonal entrepreneurs established cow fattening projects. Targeting Eid-ul-Adha, all these projects have become real threats. In most cases, cow fattening is done using harmful medicines. Growth hormones, steroids, overdose of chemicals fatten the cows in a very short time. Livestock researchers have expressed a lot of concern over this issue. Recently, I spoke to experts on how a cow is fattened after they are given steroids, harmful hormones or chemical solutions.
“If you give steroids to the cows, they severely hamper the kidney and liver of the animal. Due to malfunction of the kidney, more water is retained in the body and the cows look bigger. That is not really cow fattening”, says Dr. Md. Hasan, a livestock expert. Though apparently the cows look larger, they ultimately get affected with various diseases. You don't see it from the outside, but at one stage they die. “In extreme cases, it is possible for humans to die after eating the meat. All of us have to remain alert”, adds Dr. Hasan. We can assume that this is a serious public health concern.
Many cows of beef fattening projects in Bangladesh suffered this tragic fate during Eid-ul-Adha in 2013. In a short time after the festival, many of the unsold cows died at the farms to which they returned. Many farmers have complained that due to these beef fattening methods, customers are not attracted to the naturally grown cows, which looker slimmer in comparison. But, how would customers differentiate between cows grown in a healthy and natural way and those fattened artificially ?
The sick cow won't act normal. It will look dizzy. It'll not move much. Since it is sick, it will stand at one place, stationary. That is abnormal. A normal cow is full of life. Those cows will show movement. Customers need to buy those. The cows which stands still and don't move even after you push them, never buy these cows.
At the Indian border regions in Bangladesh, cow fattening is a common practice. I went to a fattening farm situated in Kushtia Sadar's Kumarpara, owned by Shawkat Kazi. He sells cows worth millions of taka every year from this farm. He complains that as cows come legally and also illegally from India during the Eid-ul-Adha season, local farmers have more competition and often are unable to turn a profit as a consequence.
When there are numerous farms growing and fattening their cows following unnatural methods, we got the news of a farm where cows are fattened following pure, natural ways. The farm follows the right rules and feed their cows with nutrients. I went to Zakir Hossain's farm in Munshiganj's Dakhhin Courtgaon village. He and his brothers follow natural beef fattening method and it's still a commercially feasible venture. Some other farmers have followed their footsteps in this region. The cow farm has made Zakir a big farmer in the region. He also cultivates potato on hundreds of bighas of land. His farming initiatives are the main force behind his revolutionary development. Zakir spends most of his time at his cow farm. His years of experience have helped him develop an intuition about when the cows need what.
The surrounding of the farm is very open. A small shade-house just beside the farm produces nutrient food for the cows. They're making khud rice for the cows. They mix chickpea, wheat husk and oilcakes in the rice to make it nutritious. Farmers are also feeding the cows green grass. Zakir says this is the most advanced and scientific way of beef fattening following traditional and natural means. “For standard beef fattening, first you need to build a perfect farmhouse. It should have proper drainage system. You have to clean the farm and give them quality food- wheat husk, chickpea, rice bran etc. You can get a quality cow if you follow these rules”, says Zakir. “Most of the customers are attracted to brawny cows when they buy cows during Eid-ul-Adha. They can't identify the healthy cows which have been grown naturally and often end up buying the ones which have been fattened harmfully”, complains Zakir. He is an exception, as are his cows. Not only do the cows get healthy and natural foods here, they are washed, and the places is cleaned regularly. Besides, they also feed the cows worm medicines, separate the diseased cows from the healthy ones. They follow strict rules to market the cows. Zakir's two brothers, Jewel and Ziaur are monitoring these vital factors. “These cows are like my children. We are proud of what how we raise them”, says Jewel. “We earn from this farm and from cultivating potatoes. We're also growing jute, mustard seed and paddies”, says Ziaur. In the future Zakir and his brothers want to expand the farm.
The spirit of Eid-ul-Adha is sacrifice. Every Muslim intends to set an example with this holy sacrifice. Islam has clearly ruled that the animals should be pin-perfect for the sacrifice. But some unscrupulous people are trying to make money through cow fattening by injecting harmful growth hormones, chemicals and antibiotics. This is not only unexpected but in the light of Islam, this is a crime. This is a serious public health concern. Exact statistics about the use and spread of these methods are now known, but, if unchecked, they threaten to replace traditional and natural methods which will make beef consumption a serious risk. We expect such harmful practices to be monitored and stopped immediately. Good practice of traditional beef fattening needs to spread among the farmers. A strategy needs to be devised to raise awareness amongst cattle farmers as well the government about taking the good initiative.
This is actually a problem that affects the people of Bangladesh throughout the year, specially during Eid-ul-Adha. We hope that the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries of the Government will take required steps to monitor this issue and take necessary action in this regard. Besides this, we also request the people of Bangladesh to learn more about identifying healthy and traditionally grown cows and to stay alert about this very urgent issue, especially in the days leading up to Eid-ul-Adha in October 2014.
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