Eid-ul-Azha falls at daybreak. On that day devout Muslims across the country will sacrifice animals in the hope of earning Allah's pleasure. Last-minute buying is under way in cattle markets in the capital and around the country. Demand has also grown for the wooden blocks, or khaitta, used to cut sacrificial meat, and for mats woven from hogla leaves, and the market for these goods has picked up around the Eid sacrifice.

On Sunday afternoon (16 June), five or six traders were selling khaitta and hogla mats in front of the Chicken Market at Karwan Bazar in the capital. Depending on size, each mat was selling for Tk 300–700 and each block for Tk 300 to a maximum of Tk 500.

Sellers said sales of these meat-preparation tools had risen since the afternoon, and they expected the main buying after evening.

Buyers say these items cost more than last year, with sellers charging Tk 100–150 more for each wooden block or hogla mat.

Moktar Hossain works at a shop in Karwan Bazar. Before Eid he sells straw, bran and grass for sacrificial animals in front of the Chicken Market, but from the morning before Eid he has been selling wooden blocks and mats. He has done this for the past six or seven years.

Moktar Hossain told Jagonews that prices were steady for now but would rise after evening, when a Tk 300 block would go for Tk 350–400, depending on demand.

The sellers said the tamarind-wood blocks come from Sadarghat and the hogla mats from the Mohammadpur Beribadh area. More sacrifices are expected this year, so sales could rise further at night.

Confirming that prices had gone up since last year, the trader said each wooden block had risen by Tk 100–150 and each mat by Tk 50. Last year it rained on the day before Eid, so people bought fewer of these goods. Everything costs more and transport costs have also risen, so prices are a little higher this time, he said.

Riazul, who came from Green Road, was looking for a medium-sized mat. He told Jagonews that sellers were asking Tk 400 for one, while last time he had bought a similar mat for Tk 100. They too were asking more on the excuse that everything had become dearer, he said.

Seller Masud Hossain said that in previous years the market picked up two days before Eid, but this year it came alive only on the day before. He had brought over a hundred wooden blocks and mats and hoped to sell them all by night.

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