Quail, Turkey farming raises hope among Faridpur jobless youths

Many unemployed youths of the district have taken up quail and turkey farming as these have a huge demand in the market, thus becoming self-reliant. Faridpur district livestock officer Habibul Haque said quail farming is gaining popularity as it brings good profits for farmers at a relatively lower investment. "Although we still do not have any hard data about the total number of quail farmers, we are collecting information about them," he said. Chunnu Miah, from Ghanashyampur village in the Machchar union of Faridpur Sadar upazila started quail farming with Tk16,000 as capital several years ago. Now his capital has increased to Tk23 lakh. Along with quail birds, he has been farming turkey and titir (locally named Chinese chicken). Chunnu said he built a shed adjacent to Khalilpur Bazar after taking 20 decimals of land on lease at Tk10,000 a year. His total cost to start his endeavour was Tk58,000, which he named Friend Quail Hatchery Turkey and Titir Farm'. First, he brought 335 Quail bird eggs from Naogaon. The cost of per egg, including transport cost, was Tk12 each. One quail lays 300 eggs a year. Later, he sold each Quail at Tk30-35 when the birds stopped laying eggs. He also started farming turkeys and titirs alongside quails, after getting information on the birds on the internet. Every kilogram of titir meat is sold at Tk900 while that of turkey is at Tk800. It normally takes 18 days to breed quail chicks from eggs, while the time taken for turkey and titir eggs to hatch is roughly 28 days. Chunnu alleged that farmers do not get enough support from the district veterinary hospital. Regarding of the complaint, Habibul Haque said that they are failing to give proper services to farmers because of an acute manpower crisis. Umme Salma Tanzia, Deputy Commissioner of the district, said the government is providing various trainings to unemployed youths to make them self-reliant. Concerned officials at the Department of Youth Development, Fisheries Department, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), and Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) have been urgently directed to provide unemployed and educated youths all the facilities, including training, to start farming these birds. Receiving training, the youths are now engaging in quail, turkey, and titir farming along with other farm work.