Animal feed gone costly in flooded Kazipur

Marginal dairy farmers in flood-hit Kazipur upazila of Sirajganj, a major dairy hub in the country, are fighting for survival as prices of animal feed have shot up.

Dairy farmers in Sirajganj rear more than 10 lakh cows, 3 lakh goats and 1.5 lakh lambs.

Inadequate supply of animal feed due to the months-long floods in the area has given rise to the situation, which is temporary, said Akhtaruzzaman Bhuiyan, livestock officer in Sirajganj.

Over the last couple of months, the floods in Sirajganj have destroyed 770 tonnes of grass and 588 tonnes of straw on 8,562 acres of land that is used for grazing animals.

While most of the affluent dairy farmers are bringing in the feed for their livestock from distant locations, many of the marginal farmers, unable to afford the cost, are being compelled to sell their livestock, he added. 

Rejaul Karim is one such marginal dairy farmer who, along with his family members and their two cows, has taken shelter on the flood protection embankment in Shubhogachha village in early June.

When he left his flooded house to protect his wife and their two children, he had to bring the cows along because his livelihood depends on those.

With the grazing fields under water, cow feed such as straw and bran has become costly, he said. "Sometimes, when I can't afford to buy feed for the cows, I feed them water hyacinth or vegetable waste."

Nazrul Islam Nakir, owner of a large-scale dairy farm in Shahzadpur upazila, said in the areas that are affected by the flood, the prices of straw and bran rose to at least 30 to 40 percent and the prices of grass have doubled in recent time. "Out of the 30 cows at my farm, so far I sold 10 to save them from the shortage of livestock feed."

In Shubhogachha village, several hundred families are now staying on the embankment in a number of temporary sheds, built with polythene or corrugated iron sheets. Most of them are sharing the same shed with their livestock.