The government of Bangladesh is planning a Tk303cr investment in livestock and poultry.

To raise milk, meat, and egg production in char areas under Dhaka division by at least 15% to 20% and subsequently raise living standards, the government is preparing to launch a Tk 303 crore project.

 

The project aims to provide 65,290 families in 31 upazilas of Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Madaripur, and Shariatpur with livestock and poultry as well as early-stage feed, vaccines, and medications.

According to planning commission documents, the project is being proposed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and will be carried out by the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) between July of this year and June of 2027.

One poultry package includes 25 Egyptian Fayoumi or Sonali breed one-week-old chicks, two males, Tk 8,800 for a coop, three months' worth of feed, as well as the required shots and medications.

The project aims to donate livestock and poultry alongside early-stage feed, vaccine and medicine among 65,290 families in 31 upazilas of Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Madaripur and Shariatpur.

About 1,650 families will receive calves, 8,220 goats, 4,110 sheep, 16,450 ducks, and 32,900 chickens each in this manner.

The hybrid calves, which will cost around Tk 90,000, will be around a year old, according to Md Shamim Hossain, the project's focal point officer.

He added that details would be shared on feeding various kinds of grass and silage, saying, "To make it sustainable, we will provide feed grain, necessary vaccines, and medicines only for the first 12 months."

According to him, each goat or sheep will be worth about Tk 11,200.

In order to ensure proper beneficiary selection, Shamim announced that each upazila would establish a five-person committee made up of the upazila agriculture officer, fisheries officer, union chairman, and DLS officer, and headed by the upazila nirbahi officer.

"We have established some requirements for the recipients. The list would be properly checked by the selection committee. No one who lives outside of the char areas has any chance of being added to the beneficiary list, he said.

He claimed that the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute had carried out a feasibility study.

According to Md Sayduzzaman, additional secretary to the planning commission's division of agriculture, water resources, and rural institutions, the project has undergone scrutiny at two meetings of the project evaluation committee (PEC).

"We have proposed a raise of Tk 30 crore from an initial proposal of Tk 273 crore taking into consideration the high prices of feed grain and other materials," the official said.

He said that the National Economic Council's Executive Committee might soon be asked to approve this project.

The char people are consistently ignored, and this project might improve their lot in life a little. But he added that the authorities should guarantee proper execution.