Unable to sell Rangamati's largest bull at Mainimukh Bazar, one of the district's main cattle markets, its owner brought it to the sacrificial animal market in Rangamati town on 25 May. It was priced at Tk 6 lakh. On Wednesday (27 May) 'Royal', weighing 15 maunds, sold for Tk 3.37 lakh. Farmer Nazim Uddin said he did not get a fair price.

From Sunday morning Rubel Hossain, the farmer's brother, waited for buyers with Royal at the town market. The bull was decorated with colourful flower garlands to catch buyers' eyes, and they hoped it would sell for at least Tk 5 lakh. In the end, on Wednesday afternoon, the Sahiwal bull was sold to a fish trader in the town for Tk 3.37 lakh.

For the coming Eid, local farmer Nazim Uddin had spent five years raising the huge Sahiwal bull with great affection at Rashidpur in Kalapakujja union of Rangamati's Longadu upazila. He named it 'Royal'. The 625kg bull was priced at Tk 6 lakh.

"We are poor people. Keeping a hobby does not suit us. I raised this bull with great care hoping for some profit, but now I face a loss. I hoped it would sell for at least Tk 5 lakh, but that hope was not fulfilled," said Nazim Uddin.

"There is no electricity in our union, and farming without power is very hard. These foreign breeds need regular care: they must be bathed every day and kept cool with fans. We could not do these things properly, and we were always afraid of an accident. If we do not get a fair price after so much hardship, we no longer dream of farming. It has become a loss project. If this goes on, no one will raise large breeds," he said.

His brother Rubel Hossain said: "Out of the wish to raise a big bull, I looked after it like my own child for the past five years. We raised it on natural feed such as green grass, straw, rice bran and oil cake, without any harmful drugs or steroids. Feed cost Tk 300 a day, or Tk 10,000 to 12,000 a month. Over five years we spent more than Tk 5 lakh on it. But in the end we did not get the price."

He said they first took the bull to Mainimukh Bazar in Longadu upazila on Saturday, and with no fair offer brought it to the Rangamati market on Sunday. After three days of waiting, they sold it on Wednesday afternoon for just Tk 3.37 lakh to a fish trader from the town.

Abdul Barek Dewan, chairman of the local union parishad, said people across the union and upazila had shown great interest in Royal, and many came to Nazim's house to see it. "Nazim Uddin and his brother Rubel Hossain prepared the bull for the sacrificial market. I heard that, unable to sell it here, they sold it at the Rangamati market, but the farmer did not get the price he hoped for," he said.

"Our area is remote, with no direct road link to the upazila and no electricity connection. Even so, farmers here are bravely taking up cattle rearing. But if they do not get adequate prices, they will lose interest. Our livestock department must pay special attention to farmers here and arrange the necessary training in rearing and marketing livestock, and priority must be given to making sure poor farmers profit," he said.

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