A different picture emerged at Dhaka's Gabtoli cattle market on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha. Alongside cows and goats, the market for dumba (fat-tailed sheep), brought for hobbyist buyers, also faced a shortage of buyers. High prices and weak interest are raising worries among sellers.

This was the scene at Gabtoli on Wednesday 27 May, the day before Eid. Nasim, an official of Rangpur Dumba Farm, came to the market with five dumba on Monday 25 May. In two days only one was sold, and he is worried whether the other four will sell.

"I sold one dumba for Tk 2.8 lakh," Nasim said. "We are asking Tk 2.8 lakh to Tk 3 lakh for the rest. But buyers at the market are offering at most Tk 2 lakh to Tk 2.2 lakh. With the gap between demand and price widening, I am uncertain about selling."

He said dumba are usually bought by hobbyists. Because feeding and caring for them costs more, their prices are relatively high. But this time buyers are not offering the expected price. The prices were set according to the animals' size and weight, and if the expected price is not met they may have to be taken back to the farm.

Meanwhile, several visitors to the market said that although there is interest in dumba, many do not dare buy because of the high prices. As a result, sellers are still waiting for the right buyers in the final hours before Eid.

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