Pran honours 15 successful dairy farmers

Pran Dairy Limited today honoured 15 dairy farmers for their remarkable success in the sector.

State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru handed over the awards at a ceremony held at Pran Complex in Shazadpur upazila of Sirajganj.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of PRAN-RFL Group, chaired the programme, reports our Pabna correspondent.

One of the awardees, Adnan Sarif of Satbaria village in Pabna’s Sujanagar upazila, was a private job holder in Dhaka in 2010 after completing his diploma in engineering.

“With only Tk 8,000 salary, I could hardly maintain my family,” Adnan said recalling his struggling days.

“I left the job and started a dairy farm with two cows. I worked hard to be successful in the business despite criticism from my family and the society,” he told The Daily Star.

“At present, I own 25 cows earning around Tk 80,000 to Tk 1 lakh per month. Those who criticised me earlier, now feel proud of my success,” Adnan Sarif said after receiving the award.

Tutul Pramanik, one of the awardees, of Solongi village in Pabna’s Santhia upazila, also started his dairy farm with two cows in 2008.

Once a labourer on others’ fields, Tutul now owns a dairy farm with 30 cows earning more than Tk 1 lakh a month, and cultivates 30 bighas of land, of which he managed to buy 14 bighas in the last few years.

Pran, in a bid to encourage dairy farmers to produce safe milk through proper management, awarded 15 farmers on the basis of five criteria including proper management, giving milk to Pran Dairy for long-term and turning a small farm into a big one with the help of the company.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Khan Chowdhury said that PRAN group feels proud to recognise and honour the successful dairy farmers who are supplying safe milk across the country to ensure nutritional demands.

Pran, with a total of 101 collection centres under five hubs located at Chatmohar of Pabna, Gurudaspur of Natore, Shahjadpur and Baghabari of Sirajganj and Rangpur, is collecting milk from farmers directly to ensure a fair price and make the country dairy-sufficient, Ahsan Khan also said.     

The group provides assistance and training to its 12,000 contractual farmers on rearing cows, playing an important role to increase the production of milk in the country, he added.