Eid-ul-Azha is only days away, and people are going from market to market to buy the sacrificial animal they like within their means. For now, buying the right animal seems to matter most to everyone.

As in other years, large numbers of cattle are going from the hill district of Khagrachhari to neighbouring Chattogram, Feni, Cumilla and Noakhali. Traders from the plains districts are visiting the local cattle markets in numbers, and are also buying cattle by going from one hill village to another. Every day they are taking truckloads to the plains districts.

Khagrachhari's sacrificial animal markets are now lively with the calls of buyers and sellers. Trade is brisk at the markets of Boalkhali and Merung in Dighinala, Maischhari in Mahalchhari, Sonaipul in Ramgarh, and in Manikchhari, Guimara, Matiranga, Panchhari and Khagrachhari Sadar.

Buyers and sellers say local hill cattle cost somewhat more this year than in other years. Local cattle are selling for Tk 50,000 to Tk 1.5 lakh in the local markets: small cattle at Tk 50,000-70,000, medium ones at Tk 70,000-1 lakh, and large ones for over Tk 1 lakh.

A recent visit to the Taindong, Shantipur and Gomti cattle markets in Khagrachhari found an ample supply of cattle of various sizes. Traders from neighbouring Chattogram, Feni, Cumilla and Noakhali were very much in evidence.

Md Nurul Islam, a trader who came from Feni to buy a sacrificial animal, said: "Even though prices are a bit higher, I trust the local cattle of the hills. That is why I have come so far to buy the animal I want."

Mozammel Hossain, a government employee from Chatkhil in Noakhali, said: "For the past 5-7 years I have been taking local cattle from Khagrachhari. For me the price is not what matters, it is the animal I like for the sacrifice. And I trust the local cattle of the hills."

Trader Md Jasim Uddin said prices in the local markets are high because Khagrachhari's cattle go to various districts in the plains. Even so, hill cattle are his first choice for the sacrifice.

Local farmers and livestock keepers who came to sell said cattle here are raised naturally without any medicines. Because they grow naturally, these local hill cattle are much in demand for sacrifice in the plains districts. So, as every year, many buyers from the plains are coming to Khagrachhari's markets, and many also buy animals here and send them to relatives' homes in the plains.

Farmer Giasuddin Sabuj said buyers are coming to the hills for sacrificial animals, and they have always trusted the local hill cattle.

Samapan Chakma, Matiranga Upazila Livestock Officer (additional charge), said cattle here grow naturally without any fattening drugs, which is why local breeds from Khagrachhari and the other hill areas are in great demand among people from the plains.

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