Cattle buy and sale through online platform got a boost this year as the government took all-out measures to curb the coronavirus infection and suggested people to avoid mass gathering.
This year, the authorities concerned targeted to sell one lakh sacrificial animals online. But in the Covid-19 context, a total of 387,579 cattle have been sold online this year with a financial value of more than Tk 2,735.11 crore.
Last year, 86,874 cattle were sold online with a financial value of more than Tk 595.76 crore. This year, about five times more cattle were sold online than last year. Next year, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock will work to further increase the range of buying and selling cattle on the online platform.
To reduce the risk of corona infection, the government under the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the initiative to make the purchase and sale of cattle online popular this year.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and the ICT Department of the government, other departments and agencies, district and Upazila administrations, e-commerce association of Bangladesh and other non-governmental organisations used the benefits of Digital Bangladesh to run digital cattle markets.
Almost 91 lakh cattle have been sacrificed on the occasion of the holy Eid-ul-Azha this year. Out of those, 4,053,679 cows and buffaloes, 5,038,848 goats and sheep, and 715 other animals have been sacrificed.
In the Dhaka division, a total of 22,39,252 animals including 973,833 cows and buffaloes, 1,265,056 goats and sheep and 363 other animals have been sacrificed.
In the Chittagong division, a total of 1,899,518 animals have been sacrificed where 1,071,231 were cows and buffaloes, 828,086 were goats and sheep and 201 were other animals.
In Rajshahi division, a total of 1,833,145 animals were sacrificed where 616,733 were cows and buffaloes, 1,216,283 were goats and sheep and 129 were other animals.
In Khulna division, a total of 857,601 animals were sacrificed where 239,147 were cows and buffaloes, 618,443 were goats and sheep and 11 were other animals.
In Barisal division, a total of 461,979 animals including 266,621 cows and buffaloes, 195,358 goats and sheep were sacrificed.
In Sylhet division, 209,569 cows and buffaloes, 199,364 goats and sheep and 8 others including a total of 408,941 animals were sacrificed.
In the Rangpur division, a total of 1,044,859 animals including 496,220 cows and buffaloes, 548,639 goats and sheep were sacrificed.
In Mymensingh division, 347,947 animals where 180,325 cows and 167,619 goats and sheep and three others were sacrificed.
Minister for Fisheries and Livestock SM Rezaul Karim thanked all the livestock officials concerned for the overall management including the production of cattle, preparation of sacrificial animals, marketing activities on online platforms and motivating farmers, provision of veterinary medical services at livestock markets and so on.
