Gaibandha's Eid-ul-Azha cattle markets are picking up. Large crowds have gathered and plenty of local cattle and goats have started arriving, but sales are slow.

This year permission has been given for sacrificial animal markets at 41 places in the district, 26 permanent and 15 temporary. Animals are also being bought and sold on seven online platforms.

The district livestock office said the district has 22,330 more animals than its demand of 1,23,051 sacrificial animals, which will help meet demand elsewhere in the country. A total of 16,759 farmers and farm owners hold 1,45,381 animals fit for sacrifice: 63,246 cattle, 147 buffaloes and 81,988 goats and sheep. Twenty-one medical teams are carrying out health checks at the markets.

Visits to the Dariapur market in Sadar upazila, Bharatkhali in Saghata, Mather Hat in Palashbari and Nakai Hat in Gobindaganj found traders bringing animals by truck, nosimon, bhotbhoti and other vehicles from the district's char areas, from Roumari and Rajibpur in neighbouring Kurigram, and from elsewhere in Gaibandha. Most of the cattle are local, and the markets are full of local animals.

Sellers say buyers are coming but leave after asking the price. Many are checking rates this year, while others have come to buy, and a good number are buying.

Most buyers are looking for medium-sized cattle, for which sellers are asking from Tk 80,000 to Tk 1.6 lakh. With no Indian cattle in the markets this year, demand for and prices of local cattle have risen somewhat. While buyers speak of higher prices, sellers say otherwise.

Seller Abdul Golzar Mondol said cattle prices were quite a bit lower than last year, and claimed prices were low compared with the cost of feed.

Traders who have come from various parts of the country to buy good-quality local cattle, fattened by the district's farmers using local methods, say prices are higher this year.

Abul Kalam, who brought animals to the market, said it would take a few more days for the Eid market to fill up, when traders would bring cattle and goats from far away. Most of the animals now arriving are raised locally.

Another buyer, Shafiq Mia, said of one animal: "It will give about 20kg of meat, and they are asking Tk 30,000." Buyers and sellers also complained that excessive tolls were being collected at the markets.

Gaibandha Superintendent of Police Kamal Hossain told Jagonews24 that temporary police camps would be set up at the markets, along with machines to detect counterfeit notes. The amount of toll (hasil) at designated markets must be written on signboards, and market committees and police will stay alert to prevent any untoward situation.

District livestock officer Dr Md Mahfuzar Rahman told Jagonews24 that farmers were being regularly advised to feed cattle concentrate and green grass, and vitamins, and to avoid giving them any banned chemicals or hormone drugs.

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