Before Eid-ul-Fitr, traders offered Tk 3.5 lakh for the bull. Three months later, the price offered for it is Tk 2 lakh 70 thousand, even though in those three months the bull has gained more than three maunds.

The fall in price despite the weight gain has left the bull's owner, Asadul Islam, in trouble. He reared the bull like his own child, with great hopes.

He had hoped to sell it for Tk 5 lakh at Eid-ul-Azha, but the coronavirus pandemic has dashed those hopes. Now he will sell the bull if he gets Tk 3 lakh.

Asadul Islam, of Rakhalbhoga village in Maheshpur thana, Jhenaidah, said: "A relative of mine trades cattle. Last year they took cattle to Chattogram. A bull like mine sold for Tk 5.5 lakh last year almost before it was unloaded from the truck."

"This year too my relative has taken cattle to Chattogram. I asked him to take my bull. He said he was afraid to take such a big bull, but could take it if I went along. But I have never taken cattle anywhere outside, so I did not agree to his proposal," Asadul Islam said.

He said traders had put the bull's price at Tk 3.5 lakh before Eid-ul-Fitr, and now the offer is Tk 2 lakh 70 thousand, although the bull has gained about three maunds in that time. Rearing it over these three months has also cost a large sum. The bull would now yield more than 16.5 maunds of meat.

"Times are bad now, which is why I am not getting the price. Still, I will sell the bull if I get Tk 3 lakh; selling below that is not possible. If I cannot sell it this time, however hard it is, I will rear it for another year. I hope to get a good price at next year's Qurbani Eid," Asadul Islam said.

Seeing the bull, Rashid, a cattle trader from Fatepur union in Maheshpur thana, said: "Last year we ourselves bought bulls like this for Tk 5 lakh each, and they sold at market for more than Tk 5.5 lakh. But this year the market is bad. There is no demand for big cattle, so we are afraid to take them."

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