With the Eid-ul-Azha only a week away, traders are hopeful of making a good profit on sale of sacrificial animals this year.
Prices of cattle went up in recent months after the BJP government in India had choked the illegal supply channels to Bangladesh.
Trader Emdadul Islam from Sharsha upazila in Jessore incurred losses of around Tk80 lakh in the last two years on sale of about 550 bulls in the capital due to a huge supply of sacrificial animals.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday in the city’s Gabtoli Cattle Market, the trader’s employee Shahidul said this year they have so far brought 20 bulls to the market and already sold three of them at between Tk65,000 and Tk1,05,000, which earned the trader Tk 26,000 in profit.
Shahidul expected that they would make a good profit this time around.
He said the supply of Indian cattle to Sharsha upazila has been minimal in recent months. However, local ranchers have almost doubled their production compared to that of last year.
The demand for cattle may reach up to 40 lakh during the Eid, said sources at the Department of Livestock and Services (DLS).
At least one-third of the demand was used to be met by cattle mostly from India and a little from Myanmar, according to data of the National Board of Revenue.
Trader Md Didarul Islam from Paikgacha upazila of Khulna said rearing of cattle by farmers in his area has almost doubled this year compared to the last year’s number due to high prices of cattle.
People from other professions also bought some bulls a few months ago to raise and sell them at good prices during the Eid season, he added. “I myself have raised three bulls this year, up from one last year.”
Arafat Sunny, a cattle trader from Kushtia Sadar upazila, said around 20 farms in the upazila have been raising about 1,000 bulls each to sell them in the capital or other major districts during the Eid season.
PRICES HIGHER
Traders said the prices of cattle are higher this year compared to last year as their purchase prices and transport costs have soared. The farmers also had to spend more on fodders.
A trucker charges Tk 20,000 to Tk 25,000 for transporting cattle from Kushtia to Dhaka, up against last year’s cost of Tk 12,000, said trader Shahidul Islam.
High price of bulls which were purchased by farmers to rear is another major reason of possible price hike during eid, said
Golam Mostofa, a trader from Rajshahi, said he bought three bulls for Tk 47,000 each. Last year, bulls of same sizes sold at around Tk 37,000 each, he added.
Another trader Abdur Rashid said he brought 16 bulls from India through the Jatrapur border point in Kurigram on Tuesday. Around 2,000 bulls were brought from the neighboring country though the border point on that day.
“As the Indian Border Security Force kept a tight watch on the border, we had to pay Tk10,000 more for each bulls priced between Tk 30,000 and Tk 40,000,” he said.
Trader Saidul Islam said he bought 23 bulls on Tuesday from a border point in Chapainawabganj, but had to spend Tk10,000 more for each of them than their usual prices.
Different types of bulls were selling at Gabtali Cattle Market yesterday which included bulls of Horiana of India, Butti of Bhutan and Nepali bull.
A lot of buffaloes and goats were also on sale at the lone permanent cattle market in the capital.
Source: The Daily Star
