With Eid-ul-Azha, the feast of sacrifice, set to be celebrated on Monday, buyers lead a cow home from a temporary cattle market in the Postogola area of Dhaka on Saturday. — FE Photo As the nation is set to observe the holy Eid-ul-Azha tomorrow (Monday), the capital's cattle markets are bustling with an influx of sacrificial animals and sales getting pace.
Cows and goats continued to arrive from different parts of the country on Saturday, when small- and medium-sized cows were in high demand. There were mixed reactions from the buyers and sellers regarding the prices of animals.
On Saturday morning, several key markets, including Hazaribagh, Shahjahanpur Maitri Sangha Play Ground, and Meradia Bazar, witnessed new arrivals of animals which started almost a week before. However, trades got momentum from Saturday morning.
Md Barkatullah, a trader from Kushtia who brought 17 cattle at the Hazaribagh makeshift, said that while the demand has surged, prices are not exceeding the costs.
Azmir Hossain, a trader in the same market, said that despite the high feed prices and increased costs of raising cows, he was not getting prices commensurate with the costs.
He observed that the buyers are reluctant to pay higher prices for larger cows.
Aditya Alam, a buyer from Dhanmondi, told the FE: "Traders were asking for higher prices. I bought an ox weighing 3.0 maund (120 kgs) at Tk 0.12 million after three hours of bargaining. It would be Tk 10,000-15,000 higher compared to last year."
Delwar Hossain brought 22 cows from Mymensingh to the Meradia makeshift on Thursday morning spending Tk 24,000 on truck fare, but could sell only five until Saturday.
"Buyers are coming and checking the prices. Some people liked the cows, but the prices did not match. There are fewer buyers compared to the number of cows in the market," he added.
He said cattle prices surged by a minimum of 10 per cent this year than that of last year amid rocketing costs of feed.
At around 3:30 pm on Saturday, Rampura resident Jakir Hossain purchased two cows for Tk 0.42 million from Meradia Bazar.
The traders are asking for high prices although there are enough cows in the market, he said. "Many buyers will buy the animals if the prices fit their budget," he observed.
Farid Uddin, a resident from Jigatola who came to Hazaribagh makeshift, said the traders were demanding excessively high prices for small- and medium-sized cows and comparatively lower prices for the big ones.
He said the higher demand for small- and medium-sized cows has led to this high price for those ones.
According to the Department of Livestock Service (DLS), the village farmers and big ranch owners have 12.2 million cattle this year against a demand for 10.5 million.
DLS is expecting 1.5 million cattle to be traded alone in Dhaka district.
This year, Dhaka North and South city corporations have a total of 20 sacrificial animal makeshift markets - 11 in South, including the permanent Sarulia haat, and 9 in North, including the permanent Gabtali haat.
Meanwhile, law enforcers are also patrolling these markets, and volunteers are assisting traders to ensure smooth operations.
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