"At one time you could get a big cow for Tk 50,000. Now you don't even see cows for Tk 1 to 1.5 lakh. With feed prices rising, cattle prices are going up year after year."
So said Zahir Uddin, who had come to buy a cow at Kamaldah bazar in Mirsarai upazila, Chattogram.
After days of heavy rain, the qurbani cattle markets came alive from Wednesday, 4 June, with a record number of animals brought in. In other years white cows dominated the markets, but this year local cattle are more common.
Permission has been given for 31 permanent and temporary cattle markets in Mirsarai upazila this year. At the traditional Karerhat market, several thousand cattle and goats had been brought for sale, most of them raised in the local way. As in other years, fewer white cows were seen this time.
Buyers struggle, sellers blame feed costs
A buyer named Saiful Islam said: "Local cows are expensive this year. I cannot match them to my budget. I have been to several markets and still cannot find a cow within my budget."
Sellers say local cows are a bit dearer than in other years because the rise in feed prices has pushed up production costs.
Md Ashraf Uddin, owner of Abutorab Haji Agro, said 20 local and foreign cows had been prepared at his farm for the qurbani market this year. They include a cow worth Tk 9 lakh named 'Kala Pahar', which has been brought to market but not yet sold.
Upazila livestock officer Dr Zakirul Farid said there was no fear of a shortage of qurbani animals in Mirsarai this year. The upazila has 550 farms, and many others are raising one or more qurbani animals privately. Training has been arranged for professional and seasonal butchers ahead of Eid, and the Department of Livestock Services has also run awareness activities on preserving and marketing hides.
The officer-in-charge (OC) of Mirsarai police station, Atikur Rahman, and the OC of Jorarganj police station, Sabbir Md Selim, said police had taken the necessary measures to stop all kinds of extortion and fighting around the qurbani markets.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
Comments
(0)