Monwara Begum’s five-year journey from being a homemaker to a successful entrepreneur began with three cows. Her dream journey began in 2016 when she convinced her husband to buy the cows to get milk to meet the family’s requirements.   Read: Over 90 lakh cattle sacrificed this year on Eid-ul-Azha: Livestock Ministry A small cowshed was made for the cattle at her Sreepur village in Boalkhali upazila of the district. Five years down the line, that cowshed has been replaced by a bigger “Pure Dairy Farm” of 31 cows. “Five years ago we bought the three milch cows just to meet the milk requirement of our family,” said Monwara. “Then I started selling the surplus milk to neighbours.” Read Dumuria farmers dump paddy, switch over to vegetable farming

The dairy farmers of Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj district have run into trouble again as the ongoing lockdown has choked the sales of milk they produce. Shahjadpur upazila produces some 20.50 lakh litres of milk a day, but now thousands of litres of milk are wasted due to drop in its sales and lack of storage facilities, the farmers alleged.  As the demand for milk in the open market is declining due to the closure of sweetshops, tea stalls and lack of people at haats and bazaars, farmers are counting huge losses. Visiting different areas of the upazila, the UNB correspondent found many of the farmers staging protests by dumping milk on the streets. Many farmers were also seen roaming at local markets to sell off cows as no option is left for them. Also read: Jashore dairy farmers count losses as demand falls According to Sirajganj District Livestock office, a milk-processing factory was set up in 1983 in Sirajganj by Milk Vita, a cooperative state-owned enterprise.  And then the upazila saw the mushrooming of cattle farms within years.