Friday | 10 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Friday | 10 January 2025 | Epaper

Farmers feed cows water hyacinth for high fodder price

Published : Wednesday, 4 December, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 145
Rafiqul Hasan Firoz
RAJSHAHI, Dec 3: Due to heavy rain and flood, grazing lands in different parts of the country were under water. This is affecting cows. 

The price of Aman straw is high even in the full season. Due to the shortage of fodder, many are relying on low-cost hyacinth.
But the farmers of Charghat of Rajshahi are also seeing danger in this. Cattle are getting sick due to overfeeding of hyacinths. The amount of milk is decreasing.
Farmers and ranchers say that this year, when floods started in different parts of the country, the price of fodder increased.

As a result of flood, rivers, canals and low-lying areas of paddy have been destroyed. Because of this, the price of all types of cattle feed is out of reach. Medium and low income herders are unable to buy adequate hay due to high prices. As a result, they are forced to feed the cows by fetching water waste and hyacinths.

Makhlesur Rahman of Jhikra Village of upazila had two bulls. Due to the increase in the price of cow feed, they were fed hyacinths instead of grass. A few days later, a cow suddenly developed diarrheal and fever. The cow died after three days. Kamal Hossain's cow died due to the same reason.

It has been seen from the market that machine-cut straw is being sold at Tk 25 to Tk 30 per kg. According to that, the price of straw is Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 per maund. One sack (25 kg) of Khesari husk is selling at Tk 1,300 to Tk 1,400, one sack (35 kg) of wheat husk at Tk 1,650 to Tk 1,750, corn husk at Tk 800 to 900 per sack (20 kg). Raw grass is not available. Some raw grass is available from roadsides, but it is being sold at exorbitant prices.

In a recent visit to Charghat-Puthia Road Sardah, Nandangachi and Bhatpara areas, it was seen that various species of hyacinths and aquatic plants have been grown on the roadside ditches. Some people have brought a van to collect hyacinths.

Asif Ali, tube-well engineer of Barkatpur area, said, "I have a farm with two cows. Every day after work, grass is cut from the field and fed to cows along with some straw and husk. As fodder prices are high in the market due to heavy rain, I have been feeding the two cows hyacinths for a few days. The milk has completely decreased".

According to the sources at the District Livestock Directorate, there are 1,63,356 cows and 11,253 buffaloes in the district. The demand for milk in Rajshahi is about 7 lakh tonnes. Production is about 6.2 lakh tonnes. There are 147 cows and buffalo farms in Charghat Upazila.

Upazila Livestock Officer Sarkar Enayet Kabir said that feeding hyacinth as an alternative to cow feed is harmful to the health and milk production of cows and buffaloes. If there is a shortage of food, hyacinth should be dried under the sun and mixed with other food. Collecting water hyacinths from ditches and feeding it directly can cause indigestion. Overconsumption can also lead to death.



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