Cattle sales yet to gain momentum

Eighteen makeshift cattle markets of two Dhaka city corporations began operating yesterday, with very few buyers.

Due to low sales, traders who brought their cattle from across the country several days earlier are anxious.

However, many others still have hope, since usually Dhaka's livestock markets pick up two days before Eid-ul-Azha.

This year, two Dhaka city corporations permitted 19 cattle markets, including the permanent one in Gabtali. Cantonment Board established another one in Kachukhet.

"I have brought 14 bulls from Jibonnagar of Chuadanga on Friday but could not sell a single one till Sunday afternoon," said Chan Mia, who came to the cattle market near Dholaikhal Truck Stand.

Shamsu Bepari, a cattle trader of Faridpur, said he did not find any customer so far though he came at the Dholaikhal cattle market on Wednesday.

"Usually, the sale picks up during the last couple of days," he said.

Yunus Ali, a trader of Harinakundo of Jhenidah, said he made a profit last year, for which he invested around Tk 26 lakh, taking out a Tk 20 lakh loan. However, now he fears a potential loss seeing the lack of customers.

Shajahan Ali, cashier of Kachukhet cattle market, said the cattle market started yesterday with a large quantity of livestock, but sales are low.

DEMAND FOR AGRO FARM BULLS HIGH

Many people have purchased their bulls from farms directly via online or other media platforms.

Mahmood Hossain, proprietor of Hossain Agro at Kapasia, brought 40 bulls at the Dholaikhal cattle market. He had around 300 bulls at his farm of which around 200 were sold directly from the farm.

"I have also brought 50 bulls at the Dholaikhal cattle market to meet local demands," said Hossain, who has been in this business for the last four years.

"Initially there was no demand at the farm and we had to depend on cattle market to sell our bulls. But now the demand has increased due to the quality we provide. There will be around 15 Agro farms in the market who are selling bulls of different sizes," he said.

Mushfiqur Rahman, a resident of Sutrapur who brought 17 bulls from an agro farm of Atibazar of Keraniganj, said five persons of their apartment building are involved in this business. They bring in these bulls from an agro farm and sell them off to their relatives.

Monirul Islam, owner of Mayer Doa Agro Farm, said he has been running the farm for the last two years and sold 17 bulls last year.

However, this year he could not sell a single bull at the Kachukhet cattle market as the number of customers are low.