For many traders who rear animals year after year hoping for profit, this year's Qurbani Eid markets will be remembered bitterly for disappointment and losses. They brought cattle to Dhaka hoping to profit from the biggest seasonal trade of the year, but many are going home carrying losses.

At the temporary Kamalapur cattle market in the capital on Thursday (28 May) afternoon, many traders were standing glumly beside their cows. Unable to find buyers, they will take the animals back to their villages, and some were seen loading unsold cattle onto lorries.

Md Sohel Ali came from Kushtia with 30 cows, bought jointly by 10 people. He told Jago News that he managed to sell only two, and would take the remaining 28 back to the village.

"We have made a big loss this time," Sohel Ali said. "We bought all the cows with cash. The 30 cost around Tk 50 lakh. I sold two for Tk 3 lakh. Now we'll have to take them back and rear them again." He said their backs were against the wall. Because of situations like this, villagers do not sell cattle on credit, so traders borrow to buy them and bring them to market. Taking the cows back would cost Tk 33,000 in lorry hire.

Another trader who brought four cows from Mirpur in Kushtia said he had sold two at a loss of Tk 1 lakh and was taking the other two home. Buyers were offering Tk 1 lakh each for the two unsold cows, which had cost him Tk 1.5 lakh each. He had hired a lorry for Tk 33,000 and would share it with several other traders, carrying 22 cows in all.

Md Jamal Mondol, also from Kushtia, told Jago News he brought 10 cows and sold only four, and was taking six back. "A cow that cost us Tk 2.5 lakh, buyers are offering Tk 1.8 lakh for, some Tk 1.6 lakh," he said.

He alleged: "There was a syndicate at this market this time. That syndicate has ruined us, and we have suffered a big loss. They didn't even let us take the cows out of the market. Yesterday, when we saw the market was bad, if they had let us leave we could have sold them somewhere else."

Jamal Mondol said that as soon as he reached the village he would have to pay people for the cows; they would not let him off otherwise, and they would not take the cows back. Lorry hire and other costs would mean a loss of around Tk 30,000 on these cows alone. "Bringing cattle to Dhaka this time has cost me a loss of nearly Tk 2.5 lakh," he said.

Rezaul Karim, a trader from Sirajganj, sold a cow after the Eid prayers. "I was taking two unsold cows back when these people came and bought this one for Qurbani. I sold it for Tk 89,000, though it cost me Tk 1.12 lakh. There are other costs too. All told, I lost Tk 25,000 on one cow," he said.

He had brought 14 cows to the market and sold 13, all at a loss, losing about Tk 4 lakh in total. "All the cows were bought. There was no option but to sell at a loss, so I was forced to," he said.

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