Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on 28 May. Sacrificial animals have begun arriving in the capital from districts across the country, but buyers are still few. A visit to the Gabtoli cattle market on the morning of 24 May found trade had yet to pick up.

Hridoy came to Gabtoli with 80 cows from Zakaria Farm in Jamalpur. "I came to the market with 80 cows last Wednesday. So far I have been able to sell two or three. There are a few buyers, but most are walking around checking prices. We hope buyers will increase from tomorrow," he said.

Md Khabir Hossain came to Gabtoli with 48 cows from Sarkar Cattle Farm in Tongi. "It has been two days since I came to Dhaka with the cattle, and I have sold one in two days. The market hasn't properly started yet and there are very few buyers. Buyers will increase within the next two days," he said.

Md Barat Ali Sarkar came to Gabtoli with his brother and 31 cows from Pabna and Sirajganj. "We two brothers brought 31 cows from Pabna and Sirajganj, but customers haven't come to the market. We arrived in Dhaka with the cattle this morning. So far no buyer has even looked at the cattle and asked the price," he said.

Mezbah came to Gabtoli from Narayanganj to buy a cow for the sacrifice at home, planning to spend Tk 1.6 lakh to Tk 1.7 lakh. "They are asking very high prices. Some are asking a fair price, but because most are asking high, even those who were asking less are now asking more. I have been walking round since 8am to buy a cow, but at these prices I can't. If I can't buy, I will go back and buy in Narayanganj," he said.

Goat seller Md Farooq said, "We buy goats in the villages and bring them to Dhaka. There are about 120 to 125 goats here now. So far I have sold 10 or 11. The market is not very good. Compared with last time, the market is weaker and prices lower." Demand is highest for medium-sized goats, he said.

Malu Bepari came to Dhaka from Naogaon with 140 goats. "I am not seeing much trade. Today I sold only 15 goats. The kind of trade there is at Eid-ul-Azha hasn't started yet. Hopefully Eid sales will start from tomorrow. There is no time left," he said.

Asked about the gap between buyers' offers and sellers' prices, he said feed prices had risen a lot, so the goats also had to be bought at higher prices. "But we couldn't even buy the goats at the prices buyers are offering. I bought this goat for Tk 17,000, but a buyer offered up to Tk 12,000 and then walked away. Can I sell a goat at that price?"

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