dls.digholia.khulna

Livestock animals, kept specially on a farm, for economic benefits. In Bangladesh these are generally cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep. Livestock constitute an important part of the wealth of a country, since in addition to draft power and leather, it provides manure, meat and milk to the vast majority of the people.

Livestock resources necessarily encompass animal health care and welfare, quality production factors, and effective rearing to keep pace with expansion of entrepreneurship related to concerned industries. It plays an important role in the agricultural production sphere. Statistics show that about 2.9% of national GDP is covered by the livestock sector, and its annual rate of growth is 5.5%. About 20% of the population of Bangladesh earn their livelihood through work associated with raising cattle and poultry. Draught power for tilling the land, the use of cowdung as manure and fuel, and animal power for transportation make up a significant portion of the GDP. In addition, hides and skins, bones, offals, feathers, etc, help in earning foreign exchange. Livestock resources also play an important role in the sustenance of landless people.

Livestock population in Bangladesh is currently estimated to comprise 25.7 million cattle, 0.83 million buffaloes, 14.8 million goats, 1.9 million sheep, 118.7 million chicken and 34.1 million ducks. The density of livestock population per acre of cultivable land is 7.37. This density has been increasing every year in the country. The country has a relative density of livestock population well above the averages for many other countries of the world. In spite of a high density of livestock population, the country suffers from an acute shortage of livestock products like milk, meat and eggs. The shortage accounts for 85.9%, 88.1% and 70.7% for milk, meat and eggs, respectively. The annual growth rates of these products have significantly increased in recent years. However, if we desire to meet the increasing demand from domestic production, we will require an increase in production at the rate of 6 to 9 percent per year up to 2021. For that reason, a higher investment in the livestock sub-sector will be required. It is expected that an increase in investment in livestock research and extension by one Taka will give a return of Taka 1.42 to 3.15 per year depending on the type of livestock species and product.

In Bangladesh, 83.9 percent of total households own livestock (animals or poultry or both). About 45.9 percent households possess bovine stack, and 76.3 percent possess poultry. On average, each household owns 1.52 bovine animals, 0.9 goat and sheep and 6.8 chicken and ducks.

It may be mentioned that the degree of inequality is very low in the distribution of livestock over the households. The degree of inequality as measured by Gini co-efficient was found to be 0.30 for livestock against 0.63 for land from a survey of 62 villages in 1992. In the following few years the inequality of landholdings has increased. The data generated by the 1996 Census of Agriculture showed that the inequality of land distribution was 0.66, against 0.37 for cattle and 0.17 for chicken. It suggests that further investment in livestock will have a positive impact on income distribution.

Development of livestock resources depends on factors such as veterinary health services, veterinary support services, delivery systems of veterinary biological products, quality production inputs, veterinary extension services, and cooperation between private and public sectors dealing with various health problems of livestock, viz diagnosis of diseases, their treatment, prevention and control. Other aspects vital to the development of livestock resources include improvement of livestock through genetic upgradation, artificial insemination, transfer of technology, etc. The responsibility for development of livestock resources in Bangladesh is vested in the government, non-government organisations (NGOs), and the private sector. The financial assistance of international agencies like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank may contribute to livestock development programmes.

The indigenous breed of cattle is common in Bangladesh. In pre-independent India, Lord Linlithgow brought some Hariana cattle for the improvement of the indigenous cattle. After the partition of India in 1947 several breeds of cattle such as Sindhi, Shahiwal, Tharparkar, etc were brought to this region. In 1958 the artificial insemination programme started to improve local breeds. From 1969 to 1982, German specialists worked in the Savar Dairy Farm to evolve suitable breeds for draught and milk purposes. In 1974 the Australian Government donated milch cows and breeding bulls of the Holstein-Friesian variety to Bangladesh. In addition, frozen semen of Bos taurus was imported from Germany, America, France, Australia, and Japan for use and improvement of local cattle. In joint collaboration with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) embryo transplants were successfully conducted by the scientists of both countries. Despite these efforts to improve the cattle wealth of the country, the success was not very encouraging.

The breeds of livestock and poultry available in Bangladesh are as follows: Cattle: (i) local breed of cattle- non-descript indigenous type, Red Chittagong Goyal, Pabna Cow; (ii) Exotic: Hariana, Sindhi, Shahiwal, Jersey, and Holstien-Friesian; (iii) Hybrid: Bos indicus'Bos taurus. Buffalo: (i) River type, (ii) Swamp type, (iii) River'Swamp type. Goat: (i) Black Bengal, (ii) Jamuna Pari, (iii) Crossbred- Black Bengal'Jamuna Pari. Sheep: non-descript indigenous type. Poultry: (i) non-descript indigenous type - Asseel, Chittagong Fowl, and Naked Neck; (ii) Exotic: White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, Fayomi, Australop, several commercial broiler and layer breeds; (iii) Crossbreed: Indigenous'Exotic. Duck: (i) Local: non-descript indigenous type, Sylhet Mete, Nageswari, Moscovy, Goose; (ii) Exotic: Khaki Cambell, Indian Runner, Jinding, Cherry Valley; (iii) Crossbreed: Indigenous'Exotic. Pig: non-descript indigenous type.