Eid-ul-Azha is just a day away, and buyers are crowding the markets at the last minute to buy the animals they want for qurbani. Trade is brisk. But with fewer cattle than demand, animals are selling at steep prices. This was the picture at the Kamalapur, Aftabnagar and Gabtoli livestock markets in the capital on Friday.

Sellers and traders say fewer cattle have come to the capital this year than before because of the coronavirus pandemic and floods across the country. Higher feed prices and rearing costs also meant they had to pay more to buy cattle from households and farmers. And traffic jams have kept supply below demand, pushing prices up.

Buyers say the markets are full of people but there are not enough sacrificial animals. Taking advantage, traders are selling cattle at one and a half to two times the price. Buyers accuse traders of forming a syndicate to create a shortage of sacrificial animals.

Nur Hossain of Mugda, who went to the Aftabnagar and Gabtoli markets, told Jagonews24 he went to buy a cow last night after finishing his business and work. "When I entered Aftabnagar I saw there were hardly any cattle. And for any cow I liked, they asked one and a half to two times the price. I came from Aftabnagar to Gabtoli. The same situation here too. Few cattle, and four or five times as many buyers as animals. I liked several cows that would weigh four and a half to five mon, and offered Tk 1 lakh. But the traders will not let them go for less than Tk 1.4 lakh to Tk 1.5 lakh."

Asked how prices compared with last year, he said they were certainly higher. "A cow I bought for Tk 75,000 last year is now going for over a lakh for the same size."

Jahangir, a buyer at Aftabnagar, said he had never seen such a shortage at a qurbani market. "There is always either a shortage of cattle or an oversupply on the day before Eid. But this time the picture is different. A shortage at the capital's markets two days before Eid is rare. There are some big cattle, but small ones are completely missing. As soon as cattle come off the trucks, traders buy them up and don't let ordinary buyers get close." He said that since he would perform qurbani to please Allah, he was still waiting and would buy whatever fate had in store.

Al-Amin, a buyer at Kamalapur, said cattle were few and prices very high. "A cow worth Tk 60,000 to 65,000 is being priced at Tk 1.1 lakh to Tk 1.2 lakh. I am looking at the market and will buy if I like a cow and the price is right," he said.

Abed Ali, a trader who brought cattle to Gabtoli from Santhia in Pabna, said he had to pay more to buy cattle from households this year, so prices were a little higher. Fewer cattle had also come to the market because of the coronavirus. "Even today I don't think enough cattle are arriving to meet demand, because you can't buy a truckload of cattle even after going round two or three villages. How will I bring cattle to Dhaka?" he said.

Fazal Mia, a cattle trader from Sirajganj, told Jagonews24 he set off with his cattle at 8am yesterday and unloaded them at Gabtoli at dawn. Many trucks carrying cattle were stuck in traffic on the road, and it was impossible to say when they would arrive. "Since fewer cattle are coming, I don't think prices will fall this time," he said.

A tour of the markets showed that small cattle were in higher demand than big ones. Cattle weighing two to three mon were selling for Tk 80,000 to 90,000 and had the most buyers. Big cattle were selling comparatively less.

But it is not only small cattle that are expensive. Big cattle are also very expensive, complained a buyer named Abir Hossain. "Yesterday they asked Tk 1.8 lakh to Tk 2 lakh for a cow, and today I bought that same cow for Tk 2.4 lakh. So where is it cheaper?" he said.

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