Leaders of Bangladesh Dairy Farmers' Association (BDFA) have strongly opposed the government's move to import beef for protecting the local dairy farmers.
"Local farmers as well as the whole industry will be affected if beef is imported," BDFA president M Imran Hossain told a press conference in the city on Saturday.
"Apparel export to Brazil in exchange for beef import from there is a suicidal decision," he said.
He urged the government to supply adequate veterinary physicians at Upazila level to ensure proper treatment of cattle.
The BDFA president said Bangladesh has already become self-sufficient in beef production and local cattle were in surplus during Eid-ul-Azha in the past two years.
Some 1.2 million and 1.0 million local cattle were surplus during the Eid-ul-Azha of 2019 and 2018 respectively, he argued.
While briefing reporters in presence of around 900 dairy farmers, the association president placed a number of demands, including reinforcing the government's surveillance and monitoring to stabilise the fodder price.
The other demands included inclusion of the beef and milk industry under the low electricity billing segment like the agricultural sector, reducing the cattle food price, providing subsidy and loan to dairy farmers, duty free facility to import fodder, distribution of cattle feed to farmers by giving subsidy under the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), taking immediate steps to remove all complexities to unload the fodder at all ports and providing subsidy, incentive and loan to dairy farmers to produce grass or other green fodder and silage.
The BDFA senior vice president Rakibur Rahman Tutul and general secretary Shah Emran, among others, were present at the press conference.
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