Poor Eid sales disappoint cattle traders

Md Sirajul Islam had brought nine cows from his hometown in Sirajganj's Shahjadpur upazila to Kaliabazar in Dhaka in hopes of selling them at the cattle market a week ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

One of his nine cows weighed 12 maunds (one maund equals 37 kilograms), while the others averaged about six to eight maunds.

Islam had planned to sell the big cow for Tk 3 lakh and the others at Tk 1.5 lakh to Tk 1.75 lakh each.

"I was able to sell the big one at the price I had wanted, but I could not get adequate buyers for the others," he said.

After waiting for five days, Islam eventually sold six of his remaining cattle for Tk 1.2 lakh to Tk 1.4 lakh per cow.

As a result, he was left to lament losses of about Tk 25,000 to Tk 30,000 per animal. He had to return home with two of his cattle.

He bought each cow for more than Tk 1.5 lakh six months ago and took care of them to make a profit.

"But I am so unfortunate," Islam said. He now has to sell the remaining two to butchers.

Bohulal Bepari, a cattle trader in Barabeel village in Sirajganj, seems to be in an even more critical condition as he returned home with four of his 11 cows.

He took 11 healthy cows to Dhaka a week before Eid to sell each of them for Tk 1.2 lakh to Tk 1.5 lakh. But despite waiting till Eid night, he was able to sell seven of them for Tk 1 lakh each, which was lower than Tk 1.2 lakh he paid while buying them.

His woes were amplified by the troubles he faced in transporting the cattle back from the capital.

"Hiring a truck for Tk 35,000, I brought back the cows," he added.

Bepari went on to say that he did, however, expect combined losses of about Tk 1 lakh this year.

The pandemic-induced lockdown has left many people without jobs or with lower incomes, hurting the retail market.

A total of 90.9 lakh cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep and other animals were sacrificed this year, down about 3.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from the Department of Livestock Services.

Md Shah Alam, a cattle trader in Pabna's Bhangura upazila, used to take 15 to 20 cows to the capital for sale ahead of Eid. But he did take even a single cow this year, fearing losses.

"Due to the alarming coronavirus situation, the cattle business has faded as many people did not come to markets. Moreover, the middle-income groups were uninterested in sacrificing animals. So, traders did not get their expected sale," Alam said.

He sold 10 of his animals to local cattle traders in Bhangura for no loss.

Md Abdul Jobbar, a lease-holder of the cattle market in Chatmohar Notun Bazar in Pabna, said the sale of cows was less than last year's.

"Last year, we were able to sell 100 to 150 cows in each haat day weeks ahead of the festival. But this year, we couldn't sell more than 50 to 60 cows till the last haat day."

Because of the growing cases of the virus, many people avoided going to cattle markets. They bought a record number of animals online. Goats, however, witnessed remarkable sales in this year's Eid market.

Md Abdullah Al Mamun, the local livestock officer of Pabna, said that due to the pandemic, many people opted out of sacrificing animals.

Most middle-income people teamed up with others to sacrifice animals, so the number of animals bought reduced this year, he said. 

A total of 1.19 core sacrificial animals were prepared for Eid, said Jinnat Sultana, a deputy director of the livestock department.

Of them, 45.47 lakh were cows and 73.65 lakh goats and lambs.