Farmers in Naogaon have prepared 7 lakh animals for Eid-ul-Azha and are busy with last-minute care. Feed prices were higher this year, so farmers have had to spend more, and they hope the animals will sell at higher prices too.

The district has prepared almost twice as many animals as it needs, and after local demand is met the rest will go to other districts. Farmers hope to trade livestock worth about Tk 3,500 crore in the district this year.

Abdul Mazid farms in Fatehpur village of Dubalhati union, Naogaon Sadar upazila. He started his farm in 2016 with three cattle, which he raised for four months and sold for about Tk 5 lakh, making a profit of Tk 2.25 lakh after costs. Encouraged, he began raising cattle commercially. His farm now has about 217 animals, including local bulls and Holstein Friesian and Australian breeds. Of them, 144 have been prepared for Eid; the rest are milking cows and calves.

He has named the farm 'Messrs Rihad Agro Food Production and Dairy Farm'. It employs 12 workers, who feed and look after the cattle. The animals are raised entirely by natural methods on green grass, straw, wheat and maize bran and flour, gram and oil cake.

Abdul Mazid said: "I took training on livestock rearing and fish farming from Youth Development, for 15 days in 1996 and one month in 1998. This year 144 cattle have been prepared for Eid, priced between Tk 80,000 and Tk 6 lakh each. About half have already been sold from the farm, and I hope all will be sold before Eid."

He expects a profit of about Tk 35 lakh after costs this time. His 36 dairy cows also bring him a daily profit of about Tk 20,000 after costs. Many buyers have left the cattle they bought at the farm and will collect them before Eid.

Farm workers Muktar Hossain and Azizul Islam said: "We have worked on the farm for the past five years. The cattle are raised on natural green grass and concentrate feed. Every day they are bathed, fed and cared for; they are bathed three times a day. We get a salary of Tk 12,000 a month here."

Ahsan Habib Ador, a farmer at TNT Mor in Dhamoirhat upazila town, said he has 15 cattle, 12 of them prepared for Eid, with a market value of about Tk 20 lakh. Because concentrate feed prices were higher this year, raising the animals cost more; concentrate feed prices have nearly doubled compared with last year. A good price now could still bring a profit, he said.

He said it has become impossible for small entrepreneurs or farmers to raise cattle. In future the big farmers will remain and the small ones will drop out.

Naogaon district livestock officer Md Mohir Uddin said about 7 lakh animals of various breeds have been raised on 33,000 farms in the district, almost double the demand. About 3 lakh 29 thousand animals will be slaughtered in the district, and the surplus will go to other districts after local demand is met.

He said farmers have raised the animals by natural methods. Trading has not yet picked up much, but the market will get busier in a few days, when traders from outside the district will also come to buy.

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