With only four days left before Eid-ul-Azha, cows, goats and sheep are arriving at Narayanganj's livestock markets from different places, and more buyers are coming too. The livestock department says 1 lakh 29 thousand animals are to be sold in the district this year.

According to the Narayanganj district livestock office, 1,29,450 cattle are ready for sale for Qurbani this year: 40,120 in Narayanganj Sadar upazila, 20,100 in Bandar, 20,050 in Rupganj, 23,510 in Araihazar and 25,670 in Sonargaon.

A tour of several markets in the city on Tuesday found cattle arriving by truck and by trawler. Cows of every size, small to large, were being lined up, and more buyers were walking around. Buyers were mostly purchasing medium-sized cows, while many were only checking prices.

"There are still a few days left before Eid. For now I'm checking prices and picking out what I like. I'll buy a cow a day or two before Eid," said Md Ashraf Uddin, who had come to a market.

Saif Ullah Badal, leaseholder of the Fatullah DIT market, said: "We get a good response at our market every year. Cattle have started coming this time too. There are still a few days to Eid, so the arrivals are not over. I hope sales will be good again."

Narayanganj district livestock officer Basana Akhter told Jago News that the office has a veterinary team at every market in Narayanganj, that there are enough animals for Qurbani this year, and that the office is giving agro farms whatever help they need to sell their animals.

Keeping buyers' demand and convenience in mind, arrangements have also been made to buy and sell cattle online alongside the markets, she said, and trading on that platform has picked up. Farmers hope online sales of animals could pass Tk 200 crore this year.

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