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Bangladesh has exported hatching eggs to Nigeria for the first time, opening up prospects for expanding poultry exports, Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said on Tuesday.
“If we can produce quality products, we will be able to meet domestic demand and export eggs as well,” he said while addressing a discussion marking World Egg Day at the conference room of the Cotton Development Board in Dhaka.
This year’s theme was “Protein That Powers and Protects”.
Tuku called for increasing egg production, improving product quality and reducing production costs to meet domestic demand and build export capacity.
He said collective efforts were needed to strengthen the poultry sector, boost the economy and accelerate national development.
Highlighting the importance of food security, the state minister said feed prices must be kept at an affordable level to reduce production costs in the poultry industry. He also urged stakeholders not to use antibiotics in poultry feed.
Describing eggs as an affordable source of protein and an important nutritious food, he encouraged people to include an egg in their daily diet.
Tuku also stressed the need to encourage young entrepreneurs to invest in the poultry sector, saying their involvement would expand economic activities at the grassroots level and strengthen the rural economy.
He highlighted the potential of poultry farming to improve the financial condition of rural women.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia had attached importance to the industry and distributed ducks and chickens in different areas, he said. Similarly, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, while serving as BNP senior joint secretary general in 2001, distributed ducks, chickens and goats among disadvantaged communities, he added.
Encouraging women to raise ducks and chickens in their homesteads would help them obtain eggs for household consumption and earn additional income, strengthening their economic position, Tuku said.
He also assured government support for reducing electricity costs at poultry farms, saying the government would explore ways to bring the farms under solar power projects.
Livestock Department Director General Md Shahjahan Khan chaired the discussion.
Mashiur Rahman, convener of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council, and Md Sirajul Haque, senior vice-president of the World’s Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh branch, attended as special guests.
Additional Secretary of the Livestock Division at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Syeda Nawara Jahan, Cotton Development Board Executive Director Md Rezaul Amin and Livestock Department Director (Administration) Dr Md Boyjar Rahman were also present, along with other officials.
Earlier, a rally was organised and eggs were distributed free of charge to mark World Egg Day. The Department of Livestock Services, the World’s Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh branch and the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council jointly organised the programmes.
