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The nomadic pig farming in the country can thrive and contribute a lot to poverty reduction of the underprivileged sections such as the Harijan community if it gets government patronisation.
   This was observed by some moving swineherds who with thier herds of pigs reached Barisal region last week.
   Local people who earlier treated pigs as well as swineherds with abhorrence are now welcoming them for using the flocks of pigs to prepare their land for cultivation.
   On the other hand, agriculture experts opined that this may cause negative impact on ecological balance.
   While visiting different spots at wards No. 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the Barisal City Corporation, beside the Barisal-Dhaka Highway, more  than five hundred pigs led by a dozen of swineherds were found grassing under the open sky.
   They had started journey from Khulna last month in search for pastures in dry season.
   After travelling more than 300 kilometres in Khulna, Kushtia, Rajbari, Madaripur, they reached Barisal last week.
   ‘We remain on travel for the whole dry season and will be back home before monsoon,’ said a swineherd, adding that except killing of some pigs under the wheels of vehicles or snatching of some by miscreants, they faced no other problems.
   On the way, they rear pigs and breed, sell and supply them to the customers from different remote areas contacting them through mobile phones and always keep in contact with their owner Anandababu of Sajira village under Dunia upazila of Khulna, they said.
   A sow gives birth to 5 to 7 pigs at a time twice a year and a minor pig sells at Tk2,500 to 3,000 while a large one sells for Tk 8,000 to 12,000, they informed.
   The swineherds, now staying at different parts of Uzirpur and Babuganj upazilas, regretted that the people of the underprivileged Harijan community which they belonged to were facing discrimination and were denied participation in the mainstream development process.
   The pig farming which they are involved with can flourish and help elevate poverty of the people of the caste such as their’s if the government comes forwards with patronization for their settlement in some specific areas.
   Karim Gazi, a farmer of Uzirpur on the city outskirt, said, ‘At first we the villagers hated the pigs and swineherds for religious reasons. But soon we found allowing the pigs on our land for grassing profitable for crops cultivation.’
   Kader Mia, another farmer of Babuganj, said within a day the flocks of pigs cleaned weeds on his 19 acres of land which normally takes 10 days of 50 labourers costing at least Tk 30,000.
   However, Dr Ehsanul Huq, principal scientific officer of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Barisal said it was yet to determine whether use of pigs for land cultivation was useful or harmful.
   Pigs while in search for food eat different types of insects like earthworms, roots of crops and trees and herbs useful for making compost fertiliser, harming biodiversity and ecological balance, he cautioned.

Participants in a seminar on Sunday urged the government to make amendments of tobacco control laws as the existing laws are not sufficient.
   They also urged the law enforcers to enforce existing tobacco control laws strictly saying that the amount of fines for smoking in public place should be increase.
   The government should impose a ban on any kind of advertisement of cigarettes in print or electronics media and display of posters in public places, they said.
   They made the observation while talking in a seminar titled ‘Tobacco Free Bangladesh’ held at the conference room of deputy commissioner in Noakhali.
   They also stressed the need for collective efforts by all concerned to undertake effective measures to prevent the use of all kinds of drugs especially tobacco and said smoking and use of narcotics control law must be enforced strictly.
   In this context, they viewed that smocking is the preliminary way to becoming addiction to major other harmful drugs like Phensidyl, heroin, pathedine and alcohol. So, steps should be taken to stop smocking, they added.
   Nimai Chan Biswash, principal of Noakhali Government College, presided over the programme.
   Deputy commissioner Abdul Hoque was present in the programme as chief guest. Md Masud, assistant director of Narcotics Control Department presented the key paper in the programme. A good number of government official, NGO activists, social elites and journalists of print and electronic media participated in the programme.

The Left Democratic Front on Sunday demanded cancellation of the result of the election held at Madarganj upazila in Jamalpur on January 22.
   They also demanded fresh election to the upazila parishad as, they claimed, followers of the Awami League-backed candidate captured most of the polling centres of the upazila and cast fake votes.
   The alliance leaders at a press conference at the Democratic Revolutionary Party central office said the Awami League-supported candidate, Obaidur Rahman Belal, and his men captured most of the polling centres at Madarganj and cast fake votes.
   The RWP leader and LDF-supported chairman candidate Shiblul Bari Raju, and two other candidates alleged that the AL-backed candidate had hijacked the result of the election.
   They contacted with the authorities concerned and people enclosed the upazila parishad bhaban and demanded cancellation of polls results.
   The deputy commissioner assured them of cancelling the election result but finally they declared Obaidur Rahman Belal as winner, Raju said at the press conference.
   The local Awami League lawmaker Mirza Azam and his brother Mirza Anwar influenced the election, he alleged.
   The Election Commission has failed to hold a free and fair upazila election and they have not still taken actions against those who violated the election code of conducts, the left leaders said.
   They proposed that the Election Commission should be made constitutionally independent of administrative influence and election commissioners should be appointed through the constitutional commission so that they work freely.
   The alliance coordinator, Nazrul Islam, readout the written speech at the press conference and its leaders AFM Mahbubul Haque, Suvragshu Chokroborty, Abdus Salam, Saiful Huq, Mushrefa Mishu, Zonayed Saki and others were present.
   The LDF, a combine of the left leaning political parties, will hold demonstrations at Muktangan on January 29 on the same demand.

Commercial cultivation of orange began in Thakurgaon as farmers achieved success in cultivating the nutritious fruit.
   Over 1,000 farmers have brought 50 hectares of land under orange cultivation under a project of Department of Agricultural Extension for expanding orange cultivation.
   DAE has undertaken a project for expanding orange cultivation in 10 districts, including Thakurgaon, involving 16 crore till 2011.
   The other districts are Panchagarh, Gazipur, Tangail Mymensingh, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban. Orchard development officer of the project Mizanur Rahman said about 600 farmers of the district were imparted training on orange cultivation in fiscal 2006-07.
   Besides, 20 farmers were given 15 orange saplings each free of cost.
   Four demonstration plots were prepared at Devipur and Akcha villages in sadar upazila and Kashipur and Noldighi villages in Ranishankail upazila.
   There are 170 orange trees in each plot.
   In fiscal 2007-08 some 300 orange cultivators were given 14 saplings each and 1,080 cultivators imparted training. Besides, 26 demonstration plots were prepared during this period.
   Agronomist Dr Bimal Kumar Pramanik said
   240 saplings could be planted in one acre of land and 500-1000 oranges can be collected from each tree.

A Barisal court on Sunday sentenced five persons to life-term imprisonment for killing a teenage boy four years ago.
   Additional district and sessions judge Siddikul Arefin Chowdhury also fined the convicts Tk 25,000 each, in default, to serve one year more in jail.
   The convicts are Hafizur Rahman, Khokan Khan, Majubur Rahman, Rafikul Islam Mintu and Tipu Howladar.
   Of them, Hafizur and Khokan were present in the dock.
   According to the prosecution story, the convicts killed Baijid, 17, a madrashah student, at village Daharpara of Uzirpur upazila under the district on July 21, 2004.
   Ashraf Ali Bepari, grand father of victim lodged a murder case with the Uzirpur police station.

Unidentified gunmen abducted eight ethnic minority people from Rawangchari upazila Saturday night.
   Locals said 20 masked miscreants abducted the eight persons from Bangchari Bazar, Aungzai para, Sadhu Headman para and Narayanpara in the upazila at about 11:00pm.
   The abducted are teacher of a local school U Cha Nu Marma, local DVP commander Mong, Thoaiching Marma, Thoaicha Mong, Uhai Mong, Loren Tripura, Shanti Lal and Guni Chand Tripura.
   Locals suspected that the abductors were the members of Democratic Party of Arakan.
   Masud, sub-inspector of Rawangchari police station, confirmed the incident and informed that the gunmen abducted 10 persons from the upazila Saturday night but released two of them later.