An elderly couple in their sixties successfully escaped poverty raising ducks in Dinajpur when their adult children no longer supported them.
Md Yakub Ali and his wife Zinnatun Begum started a duck farm on the banks of the Atrai river in Gucchagram village of Khansama upazila.
On a visit to the Jaiganj-Jharbari dock area of the Atrai river this correspondent found the small farm has around 450 ducks and the couple's tin shed house.
Zinnatun and Yakub cover their family expenses by selling eggs at around Tk14,000 per month and are looking forward to expanding their farm.
Yakub bought 500 day old ducklings with all their savings and were able to turn a profit from the farm in two months of intense work.
"I have a son and two daughters. My daughters are married. My son lives separately with his wife and children. We have no one to look after us," said Yakub Ali.
Zinnatun spends day and night looks after the ducks on their farm, and says: "We don't have the strength to do heavy work at this age. The ducks swim in the river in the daytime and we feed them, herding them to the farm in the evening."
Although 50 of the ducklings died from various diseases, the couple is satisfied with the treatment and suggestions provided by livestock officials in the upazila.
Veterinary Surgeon Dr Bipul Kumar of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), upazila unit office, said: "Duck farming is a profitable business. Khaki Campbell is the most popular breed of ducks that are farmed in Bangladesh."
"Ducks suffer mostly from the plague, fowl cholera, and viral hepatitis. The government provides free vaccines for these diseases."
Many locals are now inspired to take up duck farming after the couple's success in the field.