In addition to beef fattening, the venture of goat fattening has become popular as many marginalized families have become self-reliant in Rajshahi, including its vast Barind Tract.
Apart from commercial farming, many villagers are rearing different species of goats, including the Black Bengal, either in house or homestead areas in their native way.
According to the latest official data, around 525,000 goats have been fattened in farms and homes ahead of Eid-ul-Adha in the district.
Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), a state-owned anti-poverty organization, has been extending financial and technical support to farmers in association with various non-government development organizations, including Sataful Bangladesh (SB).
Sohel Rana and his wife Rima Khatun, graduates living in Daulatpur village under Bagmara upazila, have started goat rearing at their home, after failing to secure a government job around five years back.
Since then, they have reared goats and sold them at sacrificial animal markets before Eid, becoming self-reliant.
Two years back, they found a goat-fattening farm adjacent to their home.
Sohel Rana on Saturday said they fattened around 30 goats after purchasing kids for Tk1.80 lakh this year. They sold eight of those at Tk1.70 lakh and the rest are expected to be sold at around Tk4.25 lakh.
He said many rural families are rearing and fattening goats commercially, earning huge profits every year.
Some poor and marginalized people, including women, have achieved tremendous success in the sector.
For the last couple of years, many villagers have been seen fattening their goats using natural methods.
They use only straw, molasses, oilcake, gram, black gram, green grass and wheat bran as feed instead of any steroid tablets or injections.
SB Executive Director Nazim Uddin Mollah said they are providing financial and technical assistance to village-level entrepreneurs towards establishing goat farms, and many of the beneficiaries have become self-reliant.
District Livestock Officer Dr Zulfikar Muhammad Akhter Hossain said there is an immense prospect of rearing and fattening goats.
There are more than 100 goat-fattening farms in the district, and the farming families have reared two-five goats in their homes.
This year around 525,000 goats have been reared in the district, up by around 100,000 from the previous year.
Dr Zulfikar Akhter said substantial and sustainable boosting of the rearing of goats, including the Black Bengal, has been playing a vital role in meeting the protein demand along with promoting income generation and improving the lives of rural people.
Farming has also been playing a vital role towards creating earning opportunities and reducing poverty.
He said the climate of the region is favourable for rearing Black Bengal goats. The unemployment problem can be solved and the poverty of the rural people can be reduced easily by farming Black Bengal goats, he added.
The Black Bengal is one of the top five meat-producing breeds in the world. Its child production capacity is high, the meat is said to be delicious, the skin is of international quality, its life expectancy in the region's climate is high and it is a tool for poverty alleviation.
The seven existing public-sector farms in different parts of the country, including one in Rajshahi, have been renovated into modern facilities.
Sheds have been built in line with the standard. The farms have been modernized by setting up offices, accommodations, warehouses, roads, electrification, drainage, dipping bath, composting, shed, boundary walls and deep tube wells.
Dr Zulfikar Akhter said they are also setting up exhibition farms by creating skilled manpower and increasing public awareness of goat rearing, coupled with supplying good quality goats from seven government goat development farms to farmers at the upazila level.
