Farmers in Feni are getting ready for the market in sacrificial animals ahead of Eid. From smallholders to large farm owners, they hope to put past losses behind them and make a profit this year.

According to the district livestock department, Feni needs 80,800 animals for the coming Eid. However, information from farmers and small livestock keepers across the district shows a supply of more than 1 lakh animals. Many people raise their own animals for sacrifice, and on that basis 1 lakh 2 thousand animals are sacrificed, the department said.

Demand will easily be met with animals from local farms and from the northern region of the country. Besides the large and small farmers of Feni, cattle coming particularly from Noakhali, Sirajganj and Madaripur districts meet demand in most years.

Arafat Khan, owner of Hasina Agro, told Jago News that, as every year, sacrificial animals were being sold wholesale and retail at affordable prices on Mokchhudur Rahman Road, west of Pathan Bari in the town, to meet domestic demand ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. He said he had chosen cattle fattening not as a profession but as a service. In his view, fattening animals for Eid is not his profession; he took it up only as a hobby.

Rafi Uddin Hamim, director of Aman Agro, told Jago News that cattle had been fattened for Eid at Dumdama in Motbi union of Sadar upazila for 10 years. Only local breeds are available there, in small, medium and large sizes, and they are raised entirely on natural feed.

Aman Agro's managing director, Nasir Uddin Ahmed, told Jago News that the firm's only aim was to win buyers' trust by selling healthy sacrificial cattle at fair prices. Keeping buyers' means in mind, cattle are priced from Tk 80,000 to Tk 3.5 lakh, and the farm raises different breeds all year. Buyers who cannot visit the farm can go to its display centre, south of the Momin Jahan Mosque on Pathanbari Road in the town, from Friday 16 June.

Hasan Mahmud Sabuj, director of Sohan Agro Farm, told Jago News that it started fattening this year so that people can sacrifice local animals. Prices will be set taking into account the cost of the staff employed for fattening.

Abdul Ohab Bhuiyan Riad, director of City Agro, told Jago News that sheds had been built on his own land in a pleasant setting for fattening and dairy cows, following livestock department rules. Demand for animals was good last Eid, but because of various obstacles it had not been possible to stock more animals for Eid this year. Dairy cow rearing, however, is in full swing.

Feni district livestock officer Dr Md Anisur Rahman told Jago News that Feni had more animals than it needed. People in Feni prefer to make their own individual sacrifice, and even on that basis there is no fear of a shortage.

He said that, as elsewhere in the country, sacrificial animals would be supplied to Feni from the north-eastern region. Farms in Feni are also now raising good breeds of large cattle.

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