Fodder crises makes buffalo farmers of vast char area worried under Shariakandi, Sonatola and Dhunot upazilas in Bogura.

At the end of the tide in the Char area, the Jamuna River has reached the ebb tide. The green grass was washed away by the tide for a long time. Young leaves and tips have rotted due to being under water. As a result, there is a huge shortage of buffalo food. Buffalo farmers are in trouble.

Farmer Abul Hossain said that grazing buffaloes do not feed on anything other than grazing grass. Gave food many times, it didn’t work. He does not know whether he would have eaten husks and grains other than raw grass for grazing if he had been kept on a farm since childhood.

However, due to this practice, there is a huge shortage of buffalo food in the grazing areas. An adult buffalo can eat 30-35 kg of grass in a day. Then his stomach is calm and gives good milk. However, due to lack of grass, the buffalo’s stomach is often half-full.

Then the milk decreases. Then the fodder has to be changed. Once the buffalo eats grass, it sprinkles manure on the graze. Go again to another pasture. Grass grows faster when manure is applied.

The buffalo farmers of this area think that the eating habits of buffaloes need to be changed. Farm based buffalo rearing is needed. But it is not possible with indigenous buffaloes. There were once more than 800 hundred buffaloes in these areas. Now, it is reduced to 600. Hundreds of cattle can be seen crossing the river.

According to the livestock office, there are 5-8 thousand buffaloes. Besides, 10-16 thousand cattle are reared in the char area. There are about 4 thousand buffaloes. Around 100,000 cattle are being reared in about 7 such pastures in the surrounding river.

Cattle owners are only 5-6 percent in Chars. The rest are farmers. Their animals are close to the pasture square. They bought and grazed cattle. The breeder eats and grows. If the animal is sick sometimes, send money for medicine. Excluding the purchase price, share the profit equally. There are more such owners in the district.

A few herds of buffaloes can be seen in Char. A herd consists of several hundred buffaloes belonging to several owners. It is a popular method of buffalo rearing. Annually 15 to 50 acres of lowland land is invested by the owner to create pasture.

Bathani’s house was built on the fort by burying large bamboos and betel poles. Every morning, Ghosh comes to the herd from Mool Bhukhu to milk. Milked and bought. They buy milk at the same price throughout the year. But the price of buffalo milk does not fall in the market.

Abdul Hai, the son of Quader Ghosh, lamented several buffalo breeders saying that they have been rearing buffalo for many years. In the hands of the powerful and wealthy, they have maintained their buffalo herds as hostages. At the end of the year, that child is wealth. He also has to face various adverse problems to sustain.

Talking to livestock officials, it is known that there is great potential for buffalo rearing. But if a few problems are solved, buffalo rearing will become a profitable sector. There is enough fodder. Still there is a shortage of grazing land and raw grass. These pastures are dominant and in the possession of the forest department. Money has to be paid for cattle grazing. Unplanned cluster villages are being built for no reason. It is destroying pasture and cropland.

The buffaloes that are reared in grazing areas have inbreeding problems. That is, breeding with bulls of the same family in the same herd. It reduces immunity, milk and meat of buffalo. A buffalo that can give 5-6 liters of milk, gives one and a half to two liters.

Livestock officer Rafiqul Islam said, they are also worried about buffalo cultivation among cattle. First of all, the development of buffalo breed is needed. Although now various projects have started, the various studies, it has been decided that Bangladesh will propagate the full Murrah breed. It has spread to India, Pakistan and Nepal. Its production is very good. A Murrah buffalo gives up to 20-22 liters of milk. He also said that there is a need to make pastures in the union.