Cattle sales get momentum

Cattle markets in Dhaka city have gained momentum with traders being busy, with truckloads of sacrificial animals and crowds of buyers ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Following days of high prices, traders on Tuesday reduced the prices slightly to sell their cattle as only a day is left before Eid.
Braving rainfall on the day, buyers also crowded 20 cattle markets-two permanent and 18 makeshift.
This fall in prices encouraged hundreds to buy the animals of their choice for sacrifice, Najmul Hossain Polash, a Mohammadpur resident told the FE at Basila temporary cattle market.
"After reviewing the market for the last two days, I bought a bull weighing more than 350 kilogram at Tk 305,000," he said.
According to Mr Polash, the price was still 15-20 per cent higher than last year's.
The festival of sacrifice will be celebrated on June 29. The buyers who vowed to sacrifice an animal on Eid day were in a hurry to buy bulls, cows or goats.
"I've bought the animal today as there is no guarantee of the market, the price might surge further on the last day of cattle sales," said Mr Polash.
The Gabtoli cattle market, the city's permanent and largest cattle outlet, was bustling and hustling with buyers and sellers on the day.
The customers, who have visited the market in the past few days and just bargained, were seen coming back to buy them.
Cattle prices are higher this year as animal feed, medicine and nurturing costs have increased by 70-80 per cent in a year, said Abdul Gafur, a cattle-rearer from Meherpur.
"Despite such a hike, we have raised prices by 10 per cent only to get back our investments," he told the FE.
Buyers looked more interested in medium-sized cattle.
Abdul Hanif Miah, who came to Gabtoli from Pallabi to buy animals, said the price was higher than last year's despite sufficient animal supplies.
Most of the potential customers are unable to buy cows of their choice due to their limited budget.
The sellers were asking Tk 130,000 for an animal, which was supposed to be Tk 80,000 at best, said Mr Hanif.
Md Moudud, a trader from Manikganj, brought cattle to Gabtoli market by hiring a truck at Tk 15,000.
Apart from rearing costs, he said, spending on transportation also increased almost by 50 per cent.
Only traders or farmers know how much the cost of rearing animals has increased, deplored Mr Moudud.
Twenty-one out of 55 medium-sized cattle have been sold, he said, adding that he sold each animal at a rate, which was Tk 8,000-10,000 less than expected.
A large chunk of cow, goat, sheep, camel, Indian bullock, donkey and buffalo are up for grabs at cattle markets in Dhaka's two city corporations.
Meanwhile, 9,000 cattle farms in and around Dhaka city have thus far completed 80 per cent of their sales, said Imran Hossain, president of Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association.
Hassil (purchase tax) and hassle-free facitlity attracted hundreds of buyers to healthy animals at farms, according him.
Mr Hossain said online sales have dropped to some extent this year as buyers are enthusiastic to buy sacrificial animals physically from farms.
Meanwhile, fisheries and livestock minister SM Rezaul Karim said the demand was higher this year.
But farms and framers have a 2.1-million surplus of animals than demand, he added.
Mr Karim said law-enforcement agencies concerned were active to prevent any illegal trafficking of animals from neighbouring countries.
Md Emdadul Haque Talukder, director general of livestock services, told the FE that Bangladesh has 12.5-million cattle heads up for sale against the demand for 10.4 million this Eid.
The department is expecting a sale of 1.2-million animals in Dhaka.

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