Cowboys of Bilbhatia graze cows to eke out families

Rabiul Hasan Dollar

BDNEWS Correspondent

Chapainawabganj, Feb 7 (BDNEWS) – Bholahat is the furthest Upazila from Chapainawabganj district. Bilbhatia is a vast field on way to Bholahat Upazila.

Once the beel (water body) used to have water round the year that drew winter birds where fishermen netted indigenous fishes of different genres. Now the beel has pitifully run out of water.

Aquatic living beings and plants of different kinds have disappeared from the area with the passage of time. It has now turned into a dried field where IRRI and Boro grow once a year leaving it without crops for the rest of the year.

At the moment it appears to be a pasture only where cows are seen grazing in hundreds. Cowboys are found busy milking their cows if one takes a very close look at it.

On one side some five hundred cows graze together while another look on the other side helps one to visualise untamed scuttle of a bunch of calves. Once the milking of one cow is over another comes forward along with her scampering calf as the cowboy calls them by name.

Every cow has its own name. They have all sorts of bizarre names like 'Sundari', 'Surma', 'Rumali', 'Lalu', 'Rupali', 'Lali', 'Azab Lala', 'Farida', 'Farida', 'Chhurki', 'Chhuski', 'Sufia', 'Matari', 'Muktara', 'Pakhri', 'Sajina', 'Mousumi', 'Mamtaz', 'Suchitra', 'Sajpur', 'Chitra' and 'Rekhaa'.

Cowboys Kamrul, Nasir, Kabatullah, Musha and Tadu said these were not their cows. Village people give them the cows to graze them in the field. They graze the cows in the field seven months of the year and in exchange they have their share in the milk, which they later sell in the market to eke out livelihoods of their families.

When there are crops in the field they return to their village and graze the cows in open spaces but in exchange they do not get milk. The owner of the cow takes the milk but they are paid Tk 25 for grazing one cow along with meals three times a day.

The said they are from Koiler Diar village under Shibganj Upazila. They graze the cows and milk them from dawn to dusk. After sales of milk they go to a nearby village to pass the night only to return to the field next morning.

They said that they collect 80 to 90 kg of milk by milking 400 to 450 varieties of indigenous cows, which, to their opinion, is pure. They sell milk for Tk 10 a kg providing a earning of between Tk 800 and Tk 900 for five cowboys in a day.

They also said they can save Tk 100 everyday after spending on their everyday meals and they are happy with the amount they get.

When asked a cowboy said they are leading an honest life though their incomes are not up to the expectation. Moreover, they don't have to face any kind of obstacle that people do if engaged in dishonest means rather they are quite independent.

People of the Barendra area said if khas lands in the area can be turned into pastures under the direct government patronisation it will, on the one hand, meet up the growing demand of milk and, on the other hand, increase the number of livestock.

Besides, people are gradually losing interest in rearing cattle as no permanent market for sales of milk has so far developed in the area.

If there were a 'government purchase and sale centre' for milk or at least a specific market it would generate interest among people to raise at least one cow in each household of the area. Again people could fulfill their other demands too by selling spare milk.

At present, Bangladesh is totally dependant on India for cows and buffaloes and these cattle are being smuggled into Bangladesh without any medical check up. Even the cattle corridors are lacking in medical check up facility.

Cattle are taken to different parts of the country without medical check up, thus filling the pockets of a section of smugglers.

As the cows and buffaloes are being smuggled into Bangladesh it is depriving the country of its huge foreign exchange. To translate the saying 'cow-shed filled with cows' into reality the country at the moment requires a lot of grazing fields (pastures).

If pastures like Bilbhatia can be built all over the country it will not only bring economic prosperity but also meet up the demand of nutrition.

BDNEWS/1021 hrs