Cattle sales yet to pick up steam

With only two days remaining before Eid-ul-Azha, selling of sacrificial animals is yet to gain momentum at markets in Dhaka.

Though a good number of cattle is available at the markets, buyers said the price is still high compared to that of last year.

Visiting various markets including Dhupkhola, Sadeque Hossain Khoka playground, Kachukhet, open space at Eastern Housing and Gabtoli yesterday, it was seen that small and middle size cattle were in high demand.

"I purchased two bulls for 1.66 lakh. I paid Tk 20,000 more for the same size cattle compared to last year," said Saiful Islam, a resident of Gulshan, who visited Dhupkhola market yesterday.

He said they have decided to purchase early this time as they do not want to face any crisis such as scarcity of sacrificial animals like last year.

Meanwhile, traders said the price of a two to three-maund bulls now are Tk 10,000 higher this year while the price of a four to six-maund bull is Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 more.

They blamed the high price of food as the reason. Also, the price of meat went up, they added.

Nizam, who brought six bulls from Faridpur at cattle market in Dholaikhal, said, "I purchased a bull (four-maund) for Tk 1 lakh from a local market two months back. I am planning to sell the animal at Tk 1.30 lakh."

Mohammad Milon, a trader from Kushtia, said he sold his 12 and 14-maund bulls to an industrialist for Tk 5 lakh.

He said as the number of customers is very poor as of yesterday evening, he had to sell two of his four bulls early without much profit.

"I will try to make some extra money by selling the rest two bulls on the last day," said a hopeful Milon, who started his farming business last year.

Md Shawkat, a trader of Chuadanga who brought six bulls to Dhupkhola market, said though there were sufficient cattle at the market, the number of buyers was very poor.

"Hopefully, it will increase from Monday," he added.

Meanwhile, with adequate supply of bulls at the markets, the price of goats remained the same like last year, said Ramzan Ali, a goat trader in Gabtoli.

Besides, every year more than a dozen camels were seen at Gabtoli, but this year the  picture is completely different as the government did not allow traders to bring camels from abroad.

Cattle trader Amzad Hossain brought the lone camel to the market.

He said he reared it for around four years. "I bought five camels from abroad five years ago and had sold four already," said Amzad, who is charging Tk 25 lakh for the camel.

Amzad also brought 11 buffaloes to the market for selling.

"I've sold six ash buffaloes for Tk 6 lakh each and I'm waiting to sell the remaining two for the same price," said Amzad.

He said the price of a white buffalo is Tk 3.30 lakh as it is smaller than the ash one. He is also selling 20 butti (small sized bulls) bulls for Tk 40,000 to 50,000 each.

A trader was also seen selling rams at Gabtali cattle market for Tk 2 lakh each. The two rams remained unsold till yesterday night.