Leaders of Bangladesh Dairy Farmers’ Association (BDFA) have strongly opposed the government’s move to import beef for protecting the local beef farmers.
“Local farmers as well as the whole industry will be affected if beef is imported, the BDFA president M Imran Hossain told reporters at a press conference in the city on Saturday.
The president also urged the government to supply adequate veterinary physicians at Upazila level to ensure proper treatment of cattle.
"Apparel export to Brazil in exchange for beef import from there is a suicidal decision," he said.
The BDFA president said Bangladesh has already become self-sufficient in beef production and local cattle were in surplus during Eid-ul-Azha in the past two years.
Some 1.2 million and 1.0 million local cattle were surplus for Eid-ul-Azha 2019 and 2018 respectively, he argued.
The beef production stood at 75.14 gram per head in the fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19) from 11.6 gram per head in FY10, Hossain said.
While briefing reporters with the presence of 900 dairy farmers, the association president also placed a number of demands to the government, including reinforcing its surveillance and monitoring to stabilise fodder price.
The other demands include inclusion of the beef and milk industry under the low electricity billing segment like the agricultural sector, reducing the cattle food price, providing subsidy and loan to dairy farmers, duty free facility to import fodder, distribution of cattle feed to farmers by giving subsidy under Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), taking immediate steps to remove all complexities to unload the fodder at all ports and providing subsidy, incentive and loan to dairy farmers to produce grass or other green fodder and silage.
BDFA's Senior vice President Rakibur Rahman Tutul and General Secretary Shah Emran, among others, were present in the programme.
