DHAKA, Nov 11, 2024 (BSS) – Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter today emphasized the need for reducing milk import from abroad as huge import dependency ultimately will ruin the local milk production resources.

“To fulfill the production deficit of milk…we have to reduce  milk import, if the milk import dependency continues  it will spoil our all reliable milk production sources like cow and goat”, she said.

The adviser said this as the chief guest while addressing a seminar titled “Potentials and Problems of Dairy Sector of The Country” held at the Jatiya Press Club (JPC).

Farida said “So, we want to change foreign dependency, import dependency and technology as a whole to fulfil  shortage of milk.” 

Fisheries and Livestock Journalists Forum (FLJF) organized the seminar.

She said fisheries and livestock sector is the core supplier of our protein and nutrition related foods, adding “So, it would be difficult to survive if we don’t evaluate the matter properly.”

The adviser said said the women are being involved in animal husbandry; the people who are living in the char areas and even the widows are also living on animal husbandry.

In most cases, various dairy farmers and companies are reportedly using drugs and antibiotic for increasing the productivity of milk and meat which resulted in causing different  problems.

“All concerned authorities should work in coordinated way to have surveillance whether the conglomerate groups or companies are producing safe milk and meat” , Farida told the seminar.

Fisheries and Livestock Journalists Forum’s (FLJF) general secretary Jahidur Rahman gave the welcome speech in the seminar while its organizing secretary M Bayejid Munshi presented the keynote paper .

Farida told the seminar that although the dependency on domestic cow’s milk is comparatively less than the milk of foreign cow species and that’s why the local dairy farmers should concentrate on grazing land and need to protect it instead of dependency on animal feed for producing more milk.

The adviser in this regard stressed on strong coordination with the agriculture department to stop indiscriminate use of herbicide in agriculture that usually destroys grazing land of the animal.

To fulfil the shortage of milk production, Farida said the small dairy farmers   and the concerned ministry must have to take an integrated plan for raising milk production addressing the problems. 

Chaired by FLJF president MA Jalil Munna Raihan, the seminar was addressed among others, by Acting Fisheries and Livestock secretary ATM Mostafa Kamal, Director General of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) Dr M Reazul Huq and LDDP’s project director Dr M A Maleque.