Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on 17 June, only about a week away. Traders have already started bringing sacrificial animals from across the country to the capital's permanent and temporary markets. Some buying and selling has begun, but on a very limited scale. Buyers are mostly coming to look at animals and asking prices to gauge the traders' mood, though a few have started buying.

This was the picture at Dhaka's traditional Gabtali cattle market on Sunday, 9 June.

Cattle expected to give about three maunds of meat were being offered at Tk 1.25 lakh. For one animal said to give five maunds of meat, the asking price was Tk 1.75 lakh, although buyers reckoned it would give no more than four to four and a half maunds.

Gabtali is one of the capital's permanent cattle markets, where cattle are bought and sold all year. But at Eid-ul-Azha this market at the capital's entry point becomes especially busy.

The Gabtali market is being redesigned this year. A roundabout is being built at the entrance, a major infrastructure project to make entry smooth and free of congestion, and the market is being extended beside it.

But the market has not yet picked up: a cow is sold only every 30 or 40 minutes, as seen in front of the toll (hasil) booth. There, Ayub Ali of Jatrabari was waiting to pay the toll on a medium-sized black local cow he had bought for Tk 1.28 lakh, which should give about three and a half maunds of meat.

"Traders are asking absurd prices. Cattle are a bit more expensive this year than in other years," Ayub Ali told Jagonews24.

Buyers are walking around looking at cattle and checking prices. They said they did not want to buy yet for various reasons, including the problem of keeping an animal at home, and would probably buy a day or two before Eid. For now they are trying to read the traders' minds, and will buy when wish and means meet.

Akram Hossain Bhuiyan came from Mirpur to look at cattle. "I am just looking now. I will buy later," he said. "Prices are higher this time. Let's see what happens."

While high prices worry buyers, sellers are hopeful that prices will be higher this year. That is why they want to sell a day or two before Eid, though they will sell earlier if the price is right.

Saiful Bepari of Chuadanga Sadar brought 20 medium-sized local cattle to the market two days ago. Asked the price of one expected to give three maunds of meat, he asked Tk 1.25 lakh, and said prices were higher this year.

Telafat Pramanik, a trader from Mirpur in Kushtia, brought seven small cattle to the market on Saturday night, 8 June. He too said prices were higher, as was feed. Each herder must also be paid about Tk 1,000 a day on average to look after the cattle, which he said was the main reason for the higher prices.

"Cattle prices are on fire this time. Take out the feed and the herders' money and nothing is left," Telafat Bepari told Jagonews24.

Rojon, another seller from the same area, came with 18 cattle on Saturday, weighing from three and a half to six maunds. He said Dhaka people have no space to keep cattle, which is why trade has not really started yet.

Enamul Bepari from Kushtia brought four cattle on Saturday and hopes to get a good price this time.

Although prices at the markets are high, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdur Rahman said there was no shortage of cattle and goats for Eid-ul-Azha.

He told Jagonews24 that with no shortage of animals, devout Muslims would be able to observe the Eid properly. About five lakh livestock went unsold last year, and another four and a half lakh had been added this year. "Our demand is 1 crore 29 lakh animals, and we have more than 1 crore 30 lakh," he said.

Dhaka's two city corporations have finalised the leases of 16 temporary cattle markets for Eid-ul-Azha. The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) had invited tenders for 20 markets in total, nine by the DNCC including the permanent Gabtali market and 11 by the DSCC including the permanent Sarulia market. But the number of temporary markets fell somewhat for various reasons, including High Court directives. Both city corporations invited tenders for a market at Aftabnagar, but it has been halted on the order of the higher court.

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