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UN NUCLEAR AGENCY HELPS BANGLADESH PROTECT ITS GOATS

SARID, March 22, 2007

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization are helping Bangladesh to protect the prized Black Bengal goat, localy known as "BBGs."

Black Bengal goat is the common name for a small breed of goat found in Bangladesh as well as in north-eastern India.  It is believed that there are some 30 million goats in this area. These animals have played an important role in traditional economy of Bangladesh, as they provide about 30 thousand tons of meat and 20 million sq. ft. of hides and skins annually. However, changing patterns of land use are threatening the animals´ future.

"Our fallow lands for grazing goats are reducing day by day," says Dr. M. O. Faruque of the country´s Department of Animal Breeding & Genetics at Bangladesh Agricultural University. "It´s because of our growing human population and the need to plant cereal crops," Dr. Faruque points out.

The help came from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization, who in cooperation with Bangladesh scientists are working hard to help goat herders and farmers adapt to the changing environment. The IAEA scientists are applying nuclear and molecular tools for DNA analysis to help protect the animals, greatly contributing to scientific knowledge about the health and reproduction of the Black Bengal goats.

"Goats have typically been raised as scavengers, but now the traditional rearing system in Bangladesh is under threat," says Dr. Faruque. According to a report by the National News Agency of Bangladesh, it is the poor families, having less than one hectares of land each, that are rearing about 80 percent of goats.

“New approaches to rearing and managing the herds are needed,” Dr. Faruque further notes, pointing out that one of the government’s priority is to train tens of thousands of farmers on better ways to raise these animals. Results of the FAO/IAEA research programme are contributing to scientific knowledge about animal health and reproduction underpinning such steps, Dr. Faruques concludes.