The ongoing flooding is set to have a long-lasting impact on protein supply from the north and north-eastern regions, the heartland of livestock production in Bangladesh.
Over the past two weeks or the month, the time of different flood-stricken areas remaining underwater, over 5,500 cattle and 34,500 poultry birds were killed, the Department of Livestock estimated.
The flood started retreating after leaving tens of thousands of cattle stranded on farms or huddled together in temporary shelters, seriously affecting their health by triggering outbreaks of diseases such as lumpy skin and diarrhoea.
Thousands of acres of grassland remained swamped in hundreds of chars along the Brahmaputra, Jamuna and Meghna rivers, triggering distress selling and price hikes of fodder.
鈥楾he cattle that survived the flood might not survive its aftermath such as grass and fodder crisis,鈥� said Hasanul Haque Banna, a livestock farmer based in char Balapara of Aditmari in Lalmonirhat.
Banna had 30 cows before the flood hit his farm. Banna sold 11 cows a few days ago for a price that was Tk 6 lakh less than the market price. Banna鈥檚 farm is still underwater.
The divisional livestock office of Rangpur estimated that the ongoing flood affected 14,904 livestock farms in its flood-affected five districts and also 40,952 individual livestock farmers.
The divisional office also estimated that the lumpy skin disease affected 2 lakh cattle while diarrhoea affected 40,000 cattle. Since the flood hit the north on July 1, 3,000 cattle were killed directly by the flood and 2,613 cattle died from diarrhoea.聽
The ongoing flood is currently wreaking havoc in Sirajganj, which is considered the capital of meat and milk production.
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute officials said that overall the north accounted for about 50 per cent of all meat production and about 70 per cent of milk production.
鈥楲ivestock farmers are set to face disruptions in their operations for a while,鈥� said Omar Faruque, the district livestock officer, Sirajganj.
Grassland totalling 1,500 acres out of 4,000 acres is still under water in Sirajganj, the livestock officer said, with over 25,000 cattle still stranded on farms.
Sirajganj is a hub for milk production and the market is estimated to be Tk 2,500 crore. During the Eid-ul-Azha last month, Sirajganj supplied sacrificial cattle worth Tk 2,500 crore.
The ongoing flood once again highlighted Bangladesh鈥檚聽 minimum preparations in rescuing people living on the land draining world鈥檚 wettest places atop the world鈥檚 largest mountainous Himalayan region.
Thousands of people remained stranded in their flooded homes mostly without any relief for weeks. The flood affected 2 million people at its peak. Until Sunday, over 26,000 people and 3,000 cattle were in flood shelters.
A hard reality awaits these people and their animals for the price of fodder dramatically increased in the north due to acute shortage of grass and other cattle foods.
The price of a bundle of grass tripled compared with the pre-flooding times while the price of hay, chaff and feed also substantially increased in the north.
In the north-east, the Sylhet divisional office said that 34,552 poultry birds and 305 cattle were killed by the flood. Sylhet is home to a unique ecosystem known as haor, providing vast areas to rear poultry birds, mainly ducks.
The ongoing flood affected about 1,500 poultry and cattle farms in the north-east where a good supply of meat and eggs come from.
Sylhet takes the brunt of flash flood and parts of it already encountered three waves of it since May.
The divisional livestock office estimated that the floods had already destroyed 9,378 tonnes of hay, 491 tonnes of granular food and 8021 tonnes of grass.
The overall loss from the floods was estimated to be Tk 16.73 crore.
Eight rivers were flowed above their danger marks at 13 places in nine districts at 9:00am on Sunday, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.
The Jamuna flowed 67cm above the danger mark at Jagannathganj in Jamalpur.
The FFWC predicted the overall flood situation will keep improving over the present week following a let-up in monsoon rains.
In the 24 hours reporting cycle, the FFWC recorded the country鈥檚 highest rainfall of 139mm in Panchagarh. In the upstream, Cherrapunji recorded 12mm of rainfall.
Climate and weather experts warned of above normal monsoon rain this year, potentially triggering flooding on an even larger scale next month. The three-month-long monsoon is only halfway through. Experts warned that flash floods are likely to become even more frequent in future.
鈥楾he ongoing flood reminds us that humans and animals are equally vulnerable to climate change impacts,鈥� said Parvin Mostari, principal scientific officer at the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute.
The government鈥檚 response to help animals in need was as inadequate as the relief response to help flood affected people.
The government so far allocated Tk 40 lakh for fodder.
In 2022-23, according to the DLS, Bangladesh produced 571 lakh livestock animals, including 248 lakh cattle, and 3857 lakh poultry birds, including 660 lakh ducks.
The road to recovery of the livestock loss will be difficult for the flood water carried tonnes of mud along to dump it over vast grassland.
Farmers will have to grow fresh grass land for commercial purposes that might take 45 days at least.
Many farmers in the flood affected regions also had to dump milk for failing to take it to market for the flood washed away many rural roads.
鈥業 don鈥檛 know how to cope with the situation,鈥� said Sokmol Hossain, a cattle farmer of Char Jatrapur in Kurigram.