When hobby is money-maker
The farm produces 750-800 litres of milk from over 50 cows every day and sells both in the wholesale and retail market
When Ziaul Haque Sumon started his cattle farm in 2008 with eight heads of cattle at Phulchhari of Patenga, Chattogram, he had nothing more than a hobby in his mind.
But, in the course of more than one decade, his six-decimal farm has expanded to 80 decimals, with 170 heads of cattle now.
Sumon, currently a councillor of ward-39 in Chattogram's Halishahar, has also invested in fish farming and vegetable cultivation and employed 15 people on his farm, named KGN Agro.
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Many young people in Chattogram, inspired by Sumon, are becoming self-reliant by investing in agro-based farms. Many of them in and around Patenga now come to see KGN Agro and listen to the story behind Sumon's success.
Sumon now plans to invest more in his farm and would like to employ more than 100 people.
"The area of land has been increased every year to keep pace with the number of cows on the farm. I have plans to increase the size of the farm more in future. The farm sells cows worth around Tk1 crore every year before Eid-ul-Adha," said Ziaul Haque Sumon.
Sumon launched his farm at a time when most of his friends were looking for opportunities in the industrial and construction sector. But Sumon did not go down that road.
"I started the farm out of passion. From the beginning, I concentrated on crossbred cows. I bought more cows with the money from sales of milk. Now I have 84 high breed cows, including Desi, Sahiwal, Cross Sindhi, Friesian breeds," said Sumon.
"I also started fish farming on 2 acres of land in Patenga along with the cattle farm three years ago. We cultivate fishes of the carp species in the pond. The income from selling fish is about five lakh rupees every year," he added.
Some 15 employees work on the farm and each of them is paid Tk13,000 to Tk20,000 per month. The farm has to pay around Tk1,80,000 per month as salaries for the employees.
"The cost of feeding the cows is Tk10 lakh per month. After deducting the cost, I have a profit of around Tk2 lakh to Tk2.5 lakh per month from selling milk. We sell each cow for between Tk1.5 lakh and Tk2 lakh," said Sumon.
The farm produces 750-800 litres of milk from over 50 cows every day and sells both in the wholesale and retail markets. The wholesale price of the milk is Tk57 per litre and the retail price is Tk70 per litre.
Abul Kalam, an employee of the farm, said, "There are seven-eight types of high breed cows on the farm. We have to take care of them in the way we take care of children. We are busy from morning till midnight with their food and cleanliness. We also have to give them the necessary medicines."
Last year, the farm sold 50 cows during Eid-ul-Adha. This year the farm has prepared 60 cows for the sacrificial market.
"We have to keep the farm clean and tidy all the time. We also have to prevent mosquitoes, flies and insects from coming in so that the cows remain safe. We feed them raw grass, straw, husk, corn, etc, every day. We cultivate improved varieties of grass on about two bighas of land," said Sumon.
"However, we have to buy dry cattle feed from the market. But the way the price of cattle feed is increasing year by year, it has been hard for us to make a good profit," he added.
Ziaul Haque Sumon, the father of three children, also has a restaurant business in the EPZ area of the city. He is also a member of the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA).
