Straw prices soar in Rangpur, leaving farmers struggling to feed cattle — water hyacinth is now the fallback

Farmers in Rangpur are struggling to arrange feed for their cattle as straw prices soar. Paddy harvesting and threshing have not yet begun in full swing in the fields, so there is no new straw to be found, and old straw in the market is expensive. To put food in the mouths of his four cows, one farmer has to rush to a waterbody every day.

On Monday afternoon, 70-year-old Abdul Halim was seen in a waterbody beside the Barbil Manthana bridge in Barbil union of Gangachara upazila, Rangpur. Green nature surrounded the waterbody, and vehicles sped along the road beside it. Yet, away from everyone's eyes, he had waded into the water to cut water hyacinth to feed his four cows.

Abdul Halim was gathering the cut water hyacinth, loading it onto a bamboo pole and carrying it home on his shoulder. His body has bent with age and his strength is not what it used to be, but his struggle to arrange feed for the cows has not stopped.

Abdul Halim lives in Barbil Chowrapara and raises four cows. But at this time of the season, arranging feed for the cattle has become a major challenge for him.

Asked why he was cutting water hyacinth, Abdul Halim replied in the local dialect, 'There is scarcity all around, brother, what do I feed the cows? Straw is so expensive! Harvesting and threshing have not started yet. New straw is not available either. I am forced to cut water hyacinth for the cows. The cows eat it.'

His words carry not just one farmer's lament but the real crisis of many people in rural areas. When straw supply falls short before and after the paddy harvest season, low-income farmers and small livestock keepers suffer the most.

For people who depend on straw as cattle feed, a higher price means added worry. For many, livestock are the family's wealth, and for some, a main means of livelihood.

Buying straw at the higher price to raise cattle has become difficult for him within the family's limited means, so he has been forced to choose water hyacinth as a temporary alternative feed for now.

The daily life of 70-year-old Abdul Halim now seems trapped in collecting feed for the cows: cutting water hyacinth from the waterbody, pulling it up, making bundles and carrying them home on a bamboo pole — every task needs physical strength.

Even though it is hard at his age, he has to do all this work himself to arrange food for the cows, because the cows cannot simply be left unfed for lack of food.

Meanwhile, a livestock department official has advised caution in collecting and feeding water hyacinth, even though it can be used as cattle feed.

Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, livestock officer of Gangachara upazila, said, 'Water hyacinth can be used as cattle feed. But it must be collected from a clean and pollution-free waterbody. It should be washed well and fed in measured amounts mixed with other feed. Feeding too much of it is not right.'

Caught between the straw shortage on one side and higher prices on the other, many farmers like Abdul Halim are at a loss. They are now waiting for the new paddy to come home. Once harvesting begins in the fields, new straw may become available and the worry over cattle feed may ease.

Until then, the water hyacinth from that waterbody is all that 70-year-old Halim can rely on. Refusing to give in to age, he rushes out every day driven by the need to put food in his cows' mouths.