Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Buffalo rearing as an alternative to cows is now popular to farmers and considered profitable like cattle. Farmers once relied more on buffaloes than cows to pull laden carts. Buffalo not only pulls carts; it yields delicious milk and meat. Its dung is an excellent source of organic fertilizer. Various products such as buttons, combs etc. can be made of its bones. Also, fodder and fertilizer are available from it. Annual growth rate of buffalo is higher than that of cow. Because buffaloes are highly resistant to diseases and they can easily survive in adverse weather conditions.
“Various products such as buttons, combs etc. can be made of its bones. Also, fodder and fertilizer are available from it. Annual growth rate of buffalo is higher than that of cow. Because buffaloes are highly resistant to diseases and they can easily survive in adverse weather conditions.
This was said in a discussion by the Director General of Animal Resources Research Institute Dr. SM Jahangir Hossain. He was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of a three-day farmer training on science-based buffalo rearing and farm management held in the auditorium of Ishwardi Upazila Agricultural Nursery on Saturday.
President of training workshop and PD of buffalo research and development project Gautam Kumar Dev said that the benefits of buffalo rearing as an alternative to cows are that buffalo milk is relatively more suitable for the production of various dairy food products. Due to the larger size of the buffalo than the cow, relatively more meat is available from the buffalo. Buffaloes are more suitable than cows for cultivating in muddy land for crop production. Besides, a pair of buffaloes can cultivate much more land than a pair of cows.
About 100 farmers took part in the training held in two stages of 50 each. The chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Animal Resources Research Institute Biplab Kumar Roy was the special guest.
It is known that 1 thousand 475 buffaloes are being reared in 187 farms of Ishwardi. As Godagari and Ishwardi of Rajshahi division have the largest number of buffalo farms, farmers of these areas are being trained through the project.