With only four days left for the holy Eid-ul-Azha, cattle markets in Rajshahi are not facing any shortage of sacrificial animals as the supply of locally-reared cattle is quite enough to meet the demand, reports BSS.
As the Eid-ul-Azha is round the corner, sales in markets of sacrificial animals everywhere in the region are gearing up.
A large number of sacrificial animals including bulls, goats and sheep have been brought to the cattle markets for sale. Those markets are likely to be crowded with a large number of buyers as soon as the Eid holiday starts from Tuesday (June 27).
While visiting different cattle markets, this reporter saw buyers' utmost interest to purchase local animals instead of artificially fattened ones for health concerns.
Native animals were seen dominating the cattle markets as a large number of animals including buffalo, bull, oxen, goats and sheep were brought for sale in different markets.
House-to-house cattle rearing have been contributing a lot towards improving the living and livelihood conditions of the grassroots population through enriching animal resources.
Local cattle rearing are meeting the existing demands within the country. Moreover, largely native cattle production has been lessening the dependence on animal imports from the neighbouring country. In most of the cattle markets, the buyers were seen purchasing native animals.
District Livestock Officer Dr Zulfikar Akhter Hossain said the local animal husbandry sector has marked a revolutionary boost in recent years bringing fortune to hundreds of people in the region.
He said many of the rural families have been rearing and fattening bulls commercially and earning huge profits every year.
Abdur Rashid, 48, a farmer of Itaghati village under Paba Upazila, said he sold a bull at City hat yesterday at Tk 1.60 lakh. He also has four more bulls for sale before Eid.
Milon Hossain, a cattle trader at Baneswar Haat, said with the approaching of Eid, the activities of cattle traders have also increased.
The cattle traders on the Bidirpur Hath said earlier a huge number of cattle heads used to enter the country from India but now they are having sufficient local bred and locally reared cattle heads, the demand for Indian cattle heads has decreased.
Atiqur Rahman Kalu, Lease Holder of City Hat, said the cattle markets here are witnessing a record supply of sacrificial animals as farmers boosted local animal production to meet its growing demand during the Eid season.
He mentioned that both in rural and urban areas, the poor and marginalized people including women have achieved tremendous successes in animal production getting various assistance from the government and development partners.
Rajshahi City Corporation allowed the installation of eight makeshift cattle markets in its area of jurisdiction which has already begun to draw huge cattle.
Traders said there were plenty of cattle in the markets and the prices were similar to the previous Eid-ul-Azha.
The price of an ideal-sized cow or buffalo starts from Tk 30,000 to 1,80,000 and a sheep or goat can be purchased from Tk 8,000 to 35,000 as per its size, they said.
In addition to the city's biggest cattle market-City haat, some temporary markets have been set up at Court Bazaar, Shaheb Bazar Zero point, Railway Station, Court Station, Naodapara Aam Chattar and Kazla.
Meanwhile, currency-screening machines were installed in cattle markets in the city and nine upazilas of the district for resisting the use of fake notes on the occasion of holy Eid.
Anisur Rahman, Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), told journalists that all-out security measures were taken to ensure law and order in and around the cattle markets.
"Besides, we have introduced a special traffic management system to ease traffic congestion around cattle markets in the city," he added.