Demand for garole sheep has risen in Chapainawabganj ahead of Eid. But these animals are being sold online, not at markets.

Farmers say demand is growing day by day because garole meat is more nutritious and tastier than beef. The animals are also available at low prices, and the trend of sacrificing garole is growing.

The humanitarian development organisation 'Proyash' has set up a garole farm on one bigha of land in Amarak village, Gobratala union, Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila. Hundreds of garole are being sold online from here and are spreading across the country.

Shahidul Islam of Chama-Bhandar village, Shyampur union, Shibganj upazila, has been rearing garole for five years. He prepared 30 for this Eid, and 20 have already been sold. He hopes all of them will be gone by Thursday, 5 June.

Proyash's livestock officer, Dr Rajin Bin Rezaul, said more than a hundred qurbani-ready garole had been raised at the Proyash fattening farm for Eid-ul-Azha. They were raised hygienically, and the farm has skilled staff and experienced vets who look after the animals constantly. "These garole are being sold online. We are getting a good response, and I hope they will all be sold," he said.

Imam Hossain of the Sonar Mor area of Chapainawabganj told Jago News: "Since childhood I have seen cows and goats sacrificed at home. But after Eid-ul-Fitr I bought two garole for Tk 36,000 for qurbani and have been rearing them since. I have enjoyed it, because garole need little space and their feed costs very little. So I intend to sacrifice garole from next year."

Mst Sayera Begum of Rajshahi district told Jago News: "My husband lives abroad, and there is no one at home to go and buy a cow. I suddenly saw online that garole were being sold for qurbani, so I ordered one for Tk 20,000. It was delivered to my home yesterday. It looks like I got good value for the price. It may give 20-25kg of meat."

Ismail Hossain, from Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj and living in Dhaka, has ordered two garole from a Chapainawabganj Facebook page for fun. "Until now I have only sacrificed cows and goats. This time I want to sacrifice garole for a change," he said.

Chapainawabganj livestock officer Dr Golam Mostafa said demand for garole is rising because rearing them needs less space and capital, and their meat is very tasty, with better taste and nutrition than beef.

He said garole suffer from two diseases, tapeworm and liver fluke. If farmers can protect their animals from these two, they will profit.

According to the district livestock department, 14,000 garole are ready for qurbani in the district this year, and they are being sold both at local markets and online.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.