With Eid-ul-Azha just over a week away, online sales of sacrificial animals are rapidly snowballing as government agencies and e-commerce platforms have partnered up to lure customers into digital cattle markets amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

These platforms provide the "full qurbani service", which involves selling, slaughtering and delivering the cattle selected. This allows customers to avoid the risk of getting infected at the traditional cattle markets, which could turn into super spreaders given the highly contagious nature of Covid-19.

More than 1.05 lakh cattle, worth about Tk 737 crore, have been sold through online purchases since July 2, according to data from the Department of Livestock Services (DSL).

Between July 2-7, around 26,000 heads of cattle were sold at an average of 4,384 animals per day.

However, sales spiked between July 8-10, when 74,518 cattle were sold at a daily average of 25,000 animals per day.

As of Saturday, 6.21 lakh cattle had been posted for sale online across 1,277 digital platforms.

Besides, many people are even selling cattle online through social media platforms that are not included in the DSL data.

"Online sales will increase significantly in the days ahead as people are prone to buying cattle just before Eid," said Shaikh Azizur Rahman, director general of the DSL.

"We have been encouraging people to purchase their sacrificial animals online in order to help maintain health safety guidelines," he added.

To encourage online cattle purchases amid a deteriorating Covid-19 crisis, the DSL is working with public representatives, the local administration, representatives of the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers' Association (BDFA), the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), and various city corporations.

Local DSL officials are also providing assistance to farmers by connecting them with online platforms.

Similarly, a joint initiative of the Dhaka North City Corporation, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division, e-CAB and BDFA, recently launched 'Digital Haat'.

Through digital Digital Haat, which features 32 online platforms and 10 farmers so far, sold around 200 cows and goats as of yesterday since opening sales on July 4.

"As the Covid situation is worsening, many people are inquiring about the digital qurbani services," said Md Abdul Wahed Tomal, general secretary of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).

HungryNaki, an ecommerce and food delivery platform, is providing full qurbani service and aims to sell 600 goats this year.

Last year it sold 350 goats during the Eid-ul-Adha season.

"We got a tremendous response from our customers and already 200 of them booked the full service," said Ibrahim Bin Mohiuddin, co-founder and deputy CEO of the platform.

Customers have to pay Tk 5,75 per kilogramme of the goat's bodyweight and another Tk 2,499 for Eid day delivery after processing or Tk 1,999 for delivery on the second or third day of Eid.

The country's top meat processor, Bengal Meat, is also providing the full qurbani service this year and has already received 1,000 online orders.

The company is allowing people to join a group to sacrifice a single cattle together this year.

"We introduced this facility so that many people can get our service during the pandemic as we have limited capacity," said Md Asaduzzaman Khan, head of retail at Bengal Meat.

According to bikroy.com, the largest e-commerce marketplace in Bangladesh, the number of advertisements for selling cattle on its site is increasing.

Around 7,000 ads have already been posted and over 1,200 cows have been booked using the platform, said Humyra Sharmind Alam, senior executive for marketing at bikroy.com.

Some 2,085 cows and goats were sold during last year's Eid through the platform.

bKash customers can purchase sacrificial animals from online cattle markets through 11 registered online markets. It is also providing payment services for home delivery and meat processing.

Of the 11 online markets, customers can buy cows and goats from Daraz, Othoba Priyoshop, Gorur Hut, Sadeeq Agro.

However, only cows can be bought from Ajkerdeal and BD Gorur Hut while goats can be purchased though Jogan, Hungrynaki, and Khasihaat through bKash payments.

Nagad, the mobile financial service arm of the Bangladesh Post Office, is also providing such payment services in partnership with Bengal Meat, Sadeeq Agro, Bangla Cut, Priyoshop and HungryNaki.

TruckLagbe, an online platform which provides access to trucks across the country for transporting goods and different products, is providing logistic services for transporting sacrificial animals.

Many farmers now individually sell cattle online as well.

Abdul Kader, the owner of Mrittika Dairy Farm of Pabna's Bhangura upazila, said he already sold 40 of his 170 cows online.

This was possible thanks to the Facebook pages and Youtube channels I opened to market my livestock.

However, industry insiders warned that many farmers will incur huge losses if the setting of physical makeshift haat is not allowed as many marginalized farmers have no access to digital platforms.

There are 1.19 crore cattle up for slaughtering this year, including 45.47 lakh cows and buffaloes. The rest are goats, sheep and other animals, according to the DSL.