Project to boost meat, milk production

The government is set to take up a project aiming to boost the meat, milk and egg production to meet their growing demand in the country, officials said.
"We will soon undertake a project in cooperation with the World Bank (WB) to increase the meat and milk production in the country," Ainul Huq, director general (DG) of directorate of livestock services (DLS), told the FE.
Apart from the upcoming/planned project, he said, the government is now implementing another project to produce more milk and meat. The government is providing loan to the farmers with a 5 per cent interest rate.
But this project is yet to yield any satisfactory results, although the government has so far disbursed Tk 680 million to the farmers for producing more milk and meat, according to sector insiders.
As the ongoing project is not producing any satisfactory results, so the government is now planning to take up a new project.  
Mr Huq said the government is trying to raise the milk and meat production through artificial breeding.
"We will soon send the draft project proposal to the ministry of fisheries and livestock for its approval," he added.
The demand for meat, milk and eggs has been increasing in the country, but the production is not increasing as per the growing demand that leads to the price spiral of the products, depriving a section of people of getting proper nutrition, according to nutritionists.
Beef was sold at Tk 300 per kg in 2015. It was selling between Tk 480 and Tk 500 per kg on Friday. Mutton sold at Tk 750-Tk 800 per kg on the day which was between Tk 450 and Tk 500 in the last few years.    
The price of eggs (local variety hens) was between Tk 50 and Tk 55 per four pieces on the day which was between Tk 40 and Tk 45 in the last few years.
Four pieces of eggs (farm hens) were selling between Tk 30 and Tk 32 on Friday which was around Tk 28 in the past few years.   
An adult person needs to take 250 mililitres of milk and consume 120 grams of meat every day and over a hundred eggs annually, according to the World Health Organisation (WTO).
The country needs over 14 million tonnes of milk annually. It produced 7.25 million tonnes of milk in the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16.    
The country needs more than 6.74 billion pieces of eggs annually. It produced over 1.91 billion pieces of eggs in the last fiscal, leaving a shortfall of over 4.83 billion pieces and compelling a person to consume only 75 eggs instead of 104 annually.    
The country requires more than 7.5 million tonnes of meat annually. Over 6.1 million tonnes of meat were produced in the FY 2015-16, showing a shortage of around one million tonnes.
talhabinhabib@ yahoo.com