Eid-ul-Azha is just a night away, and the Gabtoli sacrificial animal market in the capital is still bustling at the last minute. Buyers are leaving the market one after another with animals. Small and medium cattle are somewhat dearer, but sellers are letting big cattle go at much lower prices.

Traders say there are few buyers for big cattle and the offers are very low, so they are having to sell largely at a loss. Buyers, on the other hand, are paying a little more for small cattle. This was the scene at the Gabtoli market on Saturday (9 July) afternoon.

Helo Mia, who brought cattle from Bhairab in Kishoreganj, told Jagonews that big cattle prices were very low this time. "I'm losing more than about Tk 1 lakh on each animal. For a Tk 6 lakh cow they offered Tk 4.5 lakh," he said.

A farmer who brought two cattle from Naogaon said: "I bought the two for Tk 11 lakh. Now they're offering Tk 2.5 lakh for one and Tk 3 lakh for the other."

Md Soumik Ahmed Sagar, who brought cattle from Jashore, said: "At home they offered Tk 12 lakh. So far buyers here are offering only Tk 5 lakh for the same cow. Big cattle prices look very low this time."

Fahim came from Kamrangirchar to buy a sacrificial animal. "I came to the market at noon. Prices are fairly reasonable on the last day. Small cattle seemed a bit dear. But I'm taking some time over buying a big one; the market may come down," he said.

Barek Molla, a buyer, said after buying his sacrificial cow: "My budget was Tk 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh. I was able to buy a good cow within that. The price is neither low nor high."

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