Cattle rearersin the country are in a fix ahead of Eid-ul-Azhathis year due to a drop in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Department of Livestock Services (DLS), 5.5 million cows and 6.0 million goats and sheep have been reared at cattle farms in different districts including Rangpur, Bogura, Pabna, Sirajganj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Jhenaidah, Chuadanga and Kushtia this year for the religious festival.
More than 0.52 million cattle farms in the country are now in a peril due to the pandemic.
Mohammad Jakaria, a co-owner of Taqwa Dairy Farm at Rayer Bazar-Beribadh in the city, told the FE that they rear cows and most of them are booked several months before the Eid-ul-Azha festival.
But this year only three cows out of 51have been booked, he said, adding that incomes of their targeted customers have dropped notably due to the pandemic hurting the business seriously.
Mr. Jakaria also said it would not be possible for them to get back even Tk 3.0 million investment. "We will incur a huge loss this year."
Alimuzzaman Sheikh, owner of Ashirbad Cattle Farm at Palash in Narsingdi, told the FE that his farm made an investment of Tk 4.2 million in rearing 64 bulls of local variety.
They sell animals to seasonal traders every year who export those to Dhaka and Chattogram, he said, adding that traders in the locality are yet to contact them to book their animals when they usually do that two-three months before the festival.
Mr. Sheikh said sales of animals in the kitchen markets also dropped significantly in last three months.
Imran Hossain, president of Bangladesh Dairy Farmers' Association, said if the trend continues, they would not be able to sell even 50 per cent of their reared cattle.
"Investments made by hundreds of traders might be stuck up and most of them are going to be bank defaulters."
He said the government should exempt interest on bank loans taken out by the affected farmers.
Small farmers should be provided with direct cash subsidy for their survival, Mr. Imran added.
DLS director general Dr. Abdul Jabbar Sikder said local farms and farmers have reared 5.5 million cows for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Marketing of those cattle will be a key challenge in next five weeks, he said, adding that local DLS offices have been directed to extend all possible support to the farmers aiming to marketing of their cattle.
DLS estimated that nearly 10.5 million cattle were slaughtered in the country last year, almost 50 per cent of them during Eid-ul-Azha festival.
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