With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, 11 livestock markets in Chuadanga have come alive. Crowds of buyers and sellers are growing, and traders and farmers say prices for sacrificial animals are good. That was the picture at the Shialmari, Dugdugi, Munshiganj and Alamdanga markets in the district.

People who brought cattle to sell at the Dugdugi market on Monday (10 June) said prices for cattle and goats were now higher than they had been over the past few days.

Md Habel Uddin, a cattle trader from Mrigamari village, said: "Compared with other days, traders from Dhaka and other parts of the country came to today's market, so cattle prices are higher too. I brought five cattle today and all of them sold. The profit was bigger as well. If prices stay like this, cattle rearers will make money."

Hafiz Khan, who came to buy, said: "I'm looking for a medium-sized animal for the sacrifice. This year prices seem Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 higher per animal. Since we have to make the sacrifice, we have to buy even at the higher price."

Several traders from Chattogram and Dhaka said they come to this market every year, and that this time more cattle had been brought in than in other years and prices were affordable.

According to the district livestock department, Chuadanga has 10,917 farms, large and small: 2,676 in Chuadanga Sadar upazila, 3,599 in Alamdanga, 1,928 in Damurhuda and 2,714 in Jibannagar. These farms have 211,879 animals ready for the sacrifice: 54,891 cattle, 160 buffalo, 152,896 goats, 3,092 sheep and seven others.

Demand for sacrificial animals in the district this year is 158,856, leaving a surplus of 53,023 after local needs are met. These animals will be supplied to Dhaka and other districts.

A farmer from Doshomi village in Damurhuda upazila said he set up his farm five or six years ago. He has 15 cattle, 13 of them prepared for the sacrifice. If prices stay at the current market rate, farmers will profit, he said.

Another farmer said he started a farm as a hobby five years ago. He now has 10 cattle and has sold three, and hopes to sell the rest before Eid. "If prices stay like this, I can make a profit."

Abul Bashar, a farmer from Lakshmipur village in Jibannagar upazila, said he had 40 cattle fit for the sacrifice and had already sold 35 of them for Tk 1 crore 10 lakh. He still has 10 cattle on the farm, bigger animals. "Until they are sold, I can't say whether I'll make a profit or a loss."

He added that feed prices are much higher this year than last year, that there are fewer sacrificial cattle ready for sale in the area than last year, and that trading is also lower than last year.

Mostafizur Rahman, acting district livestock officer of Chuadanga, said 54,979 cattle and buffalo had been fattened in the district for the sacrifice this year, and 156,821 goats and sheep prepared. The livestock department is giving farmers regular advice and other support to produce safe and healthy animals.

He said sales of sacrificial animals have begun at the district's markets and farms. Animals raised by the farmers will meet demand in Dhaka, Chattogram and other parts of the country, and farmers will get a fair price this year, he said.

Chuadanga Superintendent of Police RM Faizur Rahman said police mobile teams are working to keep the markets secure, with surveillance to stop counterfeit notes and members of "oggan party" gangs, who drug victims to rob them. In the past four days, police raids in different parts of the district arrested six gang members with chemicals. Police are also keeping extra watch on traders moving animals to and from the markets.

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