Sabbir Alam Babu, Bhola

Indomitable willpower and hard work bring people to the brink of success.

Akhter Hossain of Bhola is such a brilliant example. Hobby started with 12 cows at first but after six years now the number of cows in his farm is more than three hundred and fifty. Besides, he earns lakhs of rupees per month by cultivating cows, ducks, chickens, pigeons, fish and fruits.

He has already received several honors from the District Livestock Department and is known as a successful farmer of the district. Seeing his success, many unemployed youths of the area are becoming enthusiastic and self-employed.
Akhter Hossain is the son of Sultan Ahmed, a resident of Kalibari Road, Ward 3, Bhola Municipality.

Although he grew up in an urban environment from his childhood, he started his career as a contractor as well as raising cows on his ancestral land in the village. Gradually his farm began to grow. He named the farm 'Akhtar Dairy Farm'.
Akhtar Hossain is earning lakhs of rupees every month by cultivating cows, ducks, chickens, pigeons and fish together for the socio-economic development of the country. 19 workers work on his farm. They also provide for their families with their wages.

On the spot, when he visited Akhtar Dairy Farm in Char Anand Part-III area of East Ilisha Union, he saw a picture of his success. Goalvara cows, fish in the pond, swans on one side, local ducks, local chickens and pigeons on the other side of the whole farm called Bakbakum. Besides, there are different varieties of papaya, banana and guava orchards. Akhtar Hossain, the head of Akhtar Dairy Farm, said, “Six years ago, in 2015, I started a farm with 12 local cows on my father's land for the purpose of traveling to the village and as a hobby.

A few months later, I sold the cows on Eid al-Adha. My profit is about 60 thousand rupees. Then I thought it would be beneficial to keep cows.

Then I collected 22 improved breeds of milk cows from different parts of the country by watching YouTube. But in the first stage, my cow got infected with various diseases including hooves, ticks, rain, sore throat. I face losses. Later I got the remedy on the internet and on the advice of the veterinarian of Dhaka. From then on, I didn't have to look back.

Now I am aware of animal diseases and treat farm animals myself by learning from doctor's treatment and watching YouTube. In six years, the number of cows on my farm has exceeded three hundred and fifty. Of these, 50 are cows and the rest are bulls and calves. The cows give about 300 liters of milk per day. It is sold in two cars at the local market and at home delivery for 60 to 70 rupees a liter.

Besides, I sell cows worth 20 to 25 lakh rupees from my farm every Eid of Korbani. In addition to cattle, he is cultivating 600 local chickens, 600 khaki ducks, 200 swans, 500 pigeons and fish in 6 ponds and cultivating various varieties of vegetables including banana, papaya and guava using organic fertilizers.

Regarding the cost, Akhtar said that he earns about five lakh rupees per month by selling cows, milk, eggs, ducks and chickens on his farm. It costs him four lakh rupees. He earned the remaining one lakh rupees. He said, "I have seen this dairy farm. Many people from different areas of the upazila including East Ilisha and West Ilisha have given farms." We have formed an organization to give them various suggestions and opportunities. Named 'Meghna Dairy Society'. This organization has about 120 members.

Addressing the new farmers, Akhter Hossain said that in order to be a successful farmer, one has to work honestly with training and proper steps first. Without it, you have to be careful to buy cows in the beginning. You have to choose the right place for setting up the farm. It is better if the place is open and beautiful. The right variety should be selected with the advice of experienced people. Must have proper care and proper combination of food. Proper care should be taken as per the advice of the Livestock Office. Besides, the main driving force in a farm is that cows need to be vaccinated at the right time.

He warned the unemployed youth that those who are going abroad through various brokers at a cost of Rs 8 to 10 lakh and are suffering from going abroad, should start farming with two cows, not more with this money. I hope it will be possible to earn more money in the country than abroad. He called on the government to monitor the availability of vaccines for each farm and provide proper advice to veterinarians. He said that with proper monitoring and advice, it is possible to meet the demand for milk and dairy products of Bangladesh in the future as well as export non-vegetarian food. Akhtar made a living by working day and night in the dairy farm. Jahangir and Md. Tachir. They said, in the past I used to work as a fisherman in the river.

At that time, the income was enough to support the family. Since joining this farm, their fortunes have changed. They said that they manage the family well with their family members. Following the example of Akhtar Dairy Farm of East Ilisha Union, many unemployed youths in the upazila have become rich and self-sufficient by raising cattle. Their farms have also directly and indirectly created employment for innumerable people.

Monirul Islam, the head of Shyamal Bangla Farm, said, “I started the farm with the inspiration of Akhtar's brother. Akhtar's brother taught us how to raise animals and make a profit from farming.

We small farmers get different suggestions for farming from Akhtar's brother at different times. Akhtar's brother is known as an icon of Sadar Upazila's cow farm world.