RANGPUR, July 13 (BSS): Rashida Begum generally gifts sheep to her near and dear ones on their birthday and wedding anniversary.
So far she has gifted 15 sheep to her sons and daughter and a good number of in-laws as she found fortune in rearing up sheep in a remote village of Taraganj upazila of the district.
Rasheda is one of the more than hundred women who have changed their financial condition by rearing sheep in Laxmipur village of Ekorchali union under Taraganj upazila.
"I generally gift sheep on birthdays or wedding anniversaries," she said, adding that she now has 30 sheep in her farm after giving 25 sheep to her neighbours for rearing on a profit-sharing basis.
Those successful women, who lived under extreme poverty a decade ago, have improved their lives with their family members and found ways to send their children to school for education.
In their 40 years' conjugal life, Rasheda and her husband had no alternative to working as day-labour to maintain life.
Daily wage of a day-labourer was also low and job was not available everyday. So, with their two sons and a daughter, Rasheda used to starve frequently.
Rasheda started her venture ten years back by taking Tk 500 from her elder brother as loan.
She bought a female sheep at Tk 365. After six months, the sheep gave birth to four cubs. Within another six months it gave birth to four more cubs.
"From that time, I did not have to look behind. The number of my sheep continued to rise every year and I started meeting all expenses by selling those sheep," she added.
Rashida has taken some pieces of cultivable land on lease and built a house on their own land. Her husband does not work as a day-labourer anymore.
"Sheep are my fortune changers. My sons are now vegetable traders and they are running their families with their own earnings," a smiling Rashida said.
Following the footsteps of Rashida, her neighbours Ambia Begum, Khadija Khatun, Khaleda Yasmin, Sharifa Begum and many other women of the village started rearing up sheep in recent years to make their fortune.
More than hundred women are now engaged with the business turning Laksmipur into a sheep rearing village.
All women of the village used to go to fields with sheep in the morning together and come back home before the evening.
Taraganj Upazila Livestock Officer Dr Sirajul Islam Khan said the Livestock Department provides all necessary assistance, technologies and vaccines to sheep in village Laxmipur free of costs.
District Livestock Officer Agriculturist Md. Shahjamal Khondker said the sheep rearing has become as a profitable occupation because of high reproductive rate of the animal.
"Currently, there are 470 sheep rearing farms in all eight upazilas of the district. The number of sheep now stands at about 0.14 million against only 86,000 five years back," he said.
"The Department of Livestock has taken steps to popularise sheep rearing and meat of sheep and ensure proper use of hair of sheep in making carpet, blanket, mat and other commercial goods," he added.
