Dairy farmers to sell beef at Tk 50 less than market

Dairy farmers on Sunday announced to sell per kilogram of beef at a price Tk 50 less than that of the mainstream market.
They, however, urged the authorities concerned to reduce the sales tax (known as hasil) on animals across the country, and to popularise cow varieties like Brahma that may help reduce the prices by Tk 150-200 a kg.
The proposals came up at a stakeholders' workshop on ways to reduce prices of red meat within the reach of commoners, organised jointly by the Department of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) and Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association (BDFA).
The BDFA made the announcement in response to a request from the DNCRP following the rocketing prices of beef, mutton and other red meat.
Director General of DNCRP AHM Shafiquzzaman, director of livestock services Dr Ananda Kumar Adhikari, ministry of fisheries and livestock deputy secretary Md Anwar Hossain, also spoke at the event among others.
DNCRP director Manzur Morshed Shahriar presided over the meeting, coordinated by its deputy director Atia Sultana.
BDFA president Md Imran Hossain announced that they would offer per kilogram beef at dairy farms at a price Tk 50 less than that of the mainstream markets.
He also put forward seven-point proposals that highlighted the higher sales tax (hasil) in Dhaka and other parts of the country as the reason for an additional Tk 40-60 a kg higher rate.
He said cattle have to round at least two markets before it is sacrificed and in this process the price rises by an additional 8,000-10,000 per cow, causing a hike by Tk 40-60 a kg.
Presenting a paper at the workshop, the BDFA president said it is possible to bring down the prices of beef to Tk 550-600 if seven steps are taken in the short, medium and longer terms.
As the first step, the issue of varietal development was highlighted while saying that the price of beef could be reduced by 20-25 per cent through breed development.
"A two-year-old domestic variety of cow from RCC, North Bengal Gray, Shahiwal variety could yield up to 120-150 kg of meat when variety like Brahma could give 250-300 kg of meat at the same time"
The paper highlighted the food consumption ratio (FCR) as an important tool to select species.
It also said that a local breed needs 12-13 kg of feed to produce 1.0 kg of meat as compared to 5.0-6.0 kg for Brahma variety to produce the same quantity of meat.
The paper also proposed introducing alternative feed to reduce import dependence and cut meat prices.
The BDFA also emphasised on boosting exports of leather and leather products to bring vibrancy in the raw hide prices which might eventually help cut meat prices to some extent.
AHM Shafiquzzaman said that 10 million pieces of leather are produced every year but the country can use only 1.0 million pieces. If the rest could be brought in trade according to the rules, the price of meat can be reduced, he added.
He said: "We have some policy problems as we are giving high priority to milk production while meat is coming in second. We should put equal emphasis on increasing milk and meat production."

tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com