Govt wants to clear bad name of ‘Pathabari’

The Department of Livestock Services (DLS) has launched a Tk 30.52 crore pilot project to conserve Black Bengal goats and native sheep breeds while addressing the social stigma associated with traditional buck keepers, known as ‘Pathabari’.

Although artificial insemination (AI) is widespread for cattle, farmers still depend on private buck owners for breeding Black Bengal goats. The process costs farmers time, labour and Tk 200 to Tk 500 per attempt, while buck keepers often face social disdain.

Under the project, which will run from July 2025 to June 30, 2028, the government aims to boost productivity and preserve genetic purity.

Project Director Md Anisur Rahman said 100 Black Bengal bucks will be collected from different upazilas and 400 selected from government farms. About 20 per cent of these bucks will be reared at the Government Goat Development Farm in Savar, where their performance records will be maintained and semen will be collected from high-quality bucks at the artificial insemination lab.

A total of 1.5 lakh semen straws will be produced through semen processing. During the project period, 50,000 doses will be used for artificial insemination of around 11,000 female goats owned by low-middle-income, widowed and deserted women who have three to five goats.

The project will assess how many kids are born from the collected semen and determine its conception rate. The initiative is expected to help conserve and expand the native Black Bengal breed.

The project director also said research will be conducted at the Government Sheep Development Farm in Rajshahi to assess the suitability of artificial insemination for sheep farming in Bangladesh.

Project sources said the initiative aims to increase the productivity of genetically superior Black Bengal goats and native sheep through the expansion of natural and artificial breeding technologies, contributing to long-term socioeconomic development.

The project will also pilot measures to conserve and expand pure Black Bengal goats by preventing crossbreeding and inbreeding, improve artificial insemination technology for the breed, refine artificial insemination technology for sheep at government farms, restore artificial insemination capacity among declining goat populations, and expand Black Bengal goats in selected districts.

The project will also assess the field-level suitability of artificial insemination technology for sheep.

Already, 315 Community Growth Groups (CGGs) have been formed and 225 buck keepers have been selected in the target areas.