The Bangladesh Climate Smart Livestock project jointly organized by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and ACDI/VOCA (Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance) was organized at Hotel La Méridien in the capital on Saturday, May 18The minister made this announcement while delivering the speech of the chief guest at the event.Fisheries and Livestock Minister and Awami League Presidium Member Freedom Fighter Md. Abdur Rahman said, we have to increase the production of animal food to meet the growing demand due to the increase in population. However, this increase in production should be environmentally friendly. The nature of animal feed should be changed. The production of animal feed should be increased by modern methods.
The minister said that if the production of cow food is increased naturally, the amount of greenhouse gas emission will decrease. He expressed interest in working with the US Department of Agriculture on these issues and mentioned the US as one of Bangladesh’s development partners. He said that it will be possible to face all the challenges by working together.
He said to the farmers to change the feeding habits of the animals, we should not only increase the production of our livestock. Rather, it should be increased environmentally. In this regard, he emphasized on increasing the production of grass that can be used as fodder and urged the farmers to emphasize on grass cultivation.
The minister said, we need to research how the waste produced by animals can be used scientifically. He appealed to the concerned to find a way to properly utilize the gas produced from dung.
Director General of Animal Resources Department. Mohammad Reyazul Haque as a special guest in the program, Director General of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute Dr. SM Jahangir Hossain, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Attache Sarah Gileski, ACDI/Voca Chief Executive Officer Sylvia J. Maigret was present.