Pabna's farmers spent the whole year building their hopes around Eid-ul-Azha, raising their cattle with great care in the hope of extra profit. But those hopes were not met at the Eid haats. Because of a shortage of buyers and prices lower than expected, farmers had to bring about 30,000 cattle back unsold from haats across the district.

The farmers say the combined pressure of transport costs, feed and loan instalments has left them deeply worried. They fear their losses will grow if they cannot sell quickly.

One of them is Md Faruk of Gayeshpur village in Sadar upazila. He said the district's biggest and most famous bull, "Sada Sultan", was on his farm. Sultan was taken to Dhaka's traditional Gabtoli haat for sale. Faruk had hoped to get Tk 16 lakh for the huge Friesian bull, which weighs about 30 maunds. But the lack of price and buyers disappointed him: the highest offer at the haat was Tk 8.5 lakh.

"We went through hardship ourselves but never let Sultan suffer. We spent lakhs of taka raising him like our own child. At the haat he fetched half the price. Unable to think of anything else, I brought him back in despair. Now I keep wondering how I will meet the daily cost of keeping him," Faruk said.

It is not only Faruk. About 400 cattle fattened for the Eid market in Gayeshpur were taken to the Rampura, Badda, Aftabnagar and Gabtoli haats in Dhaka this year. Faruk and several others said most of them came back on trucks because they did not get a fair price.

According to the district livestock department and local farmers, most villages in Pabna Sadar, Bera, Santhia, Bhangura, Chatmohar and Faridpur upazilas now depend on cattle farming. Farmers and traders from these villages took about 50,000 cattle to haats in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet this year. But with fewer animals sacrificed and buyers reluctant to take large cattle, the market never picked up and no haat offered a fair price.

As a result, more than half the cattle had to be trucked back to Pabna unsold. Each farmer lost a large sum in extra truck fares to and from Dhaka. Even the post-Eid market offers no relief: with the sacrifice over, buyers are still absent from local haats and bazaars.

National award-winning cattle farmer Raju Ahmed said the prices butchers and wholesalers are offering after Eid do not cover even a third of the production cost. On top of that has come intense heat. Unable to bear the strain of the long journey and the harsh conditions at the haats, many cattle that came back unsold are falling ill with various diseases. With animals sick on many farms, farmers are paying extra every day for veterinarians.

According to the district livestock department, demand for sacrificial animals in Pabna this year was about 71,000. But more than twice local demand, a total of 6.5 lakh animals, was ready, including about 1.45 lakh cattle.

Pabna District Livestock Officer Dr Zahurul Islam said the district always prepares about twice the animals it needs, and this year was the same. Some cattle remain unsold and will be traded in the post-Eid market. Farmers are being given the necessary advice and veterinary services to treat the sick cattle that came back.

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