The government plans comprehensive measures in the upcoming national budget to boost local red meat production amid soaring prices of the protein-rich food.
Beef prices in Bangladesh have increased to Tk400 a kilogram now from Tk280 early this year as Indian authorities have tightened measures to stop smuggling of cattle.
The livestock farming growth remained stagnant at 20% over the past six years but the demand has increased manifold, according to officials. “We must come out of this stagnancy of cattle farming,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a recent meeting.
He admitted the government had not put much importance on this sector.
“This time we plan to take livestock farming to a new height and boost meat production.”
Beef was sold at Tk380-400 a kg yesterday against last month’s Tk350. In early this year, consumers could buy the same quantity of beef for Tk280-Tk300, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh that monitors commodity prices.
Throughout last year, beef was traded at Tk270-280 a kg.
The recent supply chain disruption due to political unrest hit the beef traders hard, but the situation worsened after India’s home affairs minister Rajnath Singh directed border force to “intensify vigil” against cattle smuggling into Bangladesh.
Addressing the Border Security Force personnel at a border outpost in West Bengal on April 1, Singh said: “I am told prices of beef in Bangladesh have already gone up by 30% recently due to heightened vigil by the BSF against cattle smuggling.
“You further intensify the vigil so that the smuggling stops completely and price of beef in Bangladesh escalates 70-80% more. The people of Bangladesh would then give up eating beef.”
India is a big source of cattle for Bangladesh market. But allegations are there that a large amount of the Indian cattle are smuggled into the neighbouring country through the porous border.
India does not export cows as they are considered sacred in the Hindu-majority nation. According to reports by Indian media, around 2.5m cattle, on an average, are smuggled into Bangladesh every year. The figure was 1.7 last year.
The Economic Times in a report said much of the smuggling trade happens allegedly in connivance with the border guards, a charge denied by the BSF.
However, sources said the sheer economics of the trade make it near impossible to stop.
Of the total beef production in the country, around 25% comes from Indian imported cows, according to Department of Livestock Services.
According to it, the annual meat production is currently 3.6m tonnes, a large portion of which is covered by poultry.
Although Bangladesh has the seventh largest cattle population in the world, it has one of the lowest per capita meat consumption, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
The protein intake is already far below in Bangladesh compared to global average. The per capita annual demand for meat is around 80 kg in the world, while it is only 7.3 kg in Bangladesh.
However, the per hectare density of cattle head in Bangladesh was higher than any other countries in the world. In Bangladesh, the number of cattle head per hectare is 2.49 while it is 1.12 in India.
If the BSF could stop cattle smuggling into Bangladesh, India would also be burdened with an additional expenditure in excess of Rs31,000 crore (Tk38,769 crore) annually, according to The Economic Times.
