Started with 13 cattle; the buffaloes alone are now worth 1.25 crore

This farmer from Ramchandrapur village in Kaharole, Dinajpur, took a master’s in economics and then worked for an NGO on self-employment, which took him around many districts and let him watch successful livestock farmers at close range. He left the job, returned to his village and started in 2016 with 13 local cattle. He began on 50 decimals and bought 57 more from the farm’s own income; 107 decimals now carry three adjoining sheds, 240 feet by 90, holding 45 cattle and 52 Indian crossbred buffaloes. He buys animals relatively cheaply in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Rajshahi, fattens them and sells to local traders every three months, the buffaloes weighing 250-500 kg and the cattle 100-400 kg. Straw, bran, oilcake and silage are fed alongside napier grass from 8 bighas of the farm’s own land, each animal eating 12 to 22 kg a day, with two to two and a half months of feed always in store. Ten to fifteen workers are employed on monthly salaries or daily wages, and he says the buffaloes alone would fetch at least 1.25 crore taka if sold.