Only two weeks are left before Eid-ul-Adha. The most important part of this religious festival of the Muslims is sacrificing cattle. Every year cattle farmers of Joypurhat prepare a large number of sacrificial animals for this festival.
However, this year the scenario is totally different from other years. This time, cattle markets are closed due to the corona pandemic situation. Cow traders are moving from house to house and to the dairy farms to buy some cows.
The dairy farm owners and farmers of Joypurhat raise cows at home. At the end of the year they sell them on Eid-ul Adha. Due to the corona virus infection, all the cattle markets, including two main markets in the district are closed down.
Cow traders in the district are buying cows moving from house to house and taking them out of the district by trucks. Farmers say they are not getting the expected price by selling cows at home as there are no huts. They are forced to sell cows at low prices due to financial crisis.
Farmer Feroz Hossain of Hanail village in sadar upazila of the district and Abdul Wares of Dharki village said they sold cows from their homes due to lack of cattle markets. However, they did not get the expected price. The traders come home and buy at a lower price. There would have been a chance to sort out market verification if the cattle markets were opened. They are not getting that opportunity this time because the market is closed because of the corona virus infection.
Sahed Ali of Dharki village, who is involved in buying and selling cows every Eid-ul Adha said those involved in cow trading are buying cows from house to house as the markets are closed. They are sending them in trucks to middlemen in Dhaka. Shahed said the price of cows is lower this time than last year. Harunur Rashid of Awalgadi village in Akkelpur upazila of the district said the traders had been buying cows from their homes in the area for a few days and collecting them in the shade of trees and then taking them by truck.
According to Joypurhat district livestock office there are 5,612 dairy farms in the district, big and small. There are one lakh 1,427 cows are suitable for sacrifice in farms and farmer's houses. 90,000-95,000 cows will be required for sacrifice in the district this year.
Even after sacrificing, 12,000-15,000 cows will remain surplus in the district. This will meet some of the demand for sacrificing cows in various districts outside Joypurhat district.
District livestock officer Dr Mahfuzar Rahman said there is no chance of Indian cows coming. The government and the local administration are in a tough position. Farmers can sell cows at a good price on Eid-ul-Adha. There's still time to sell cows.
Joypurhat Dairy Farmers Association General Secretary and Rajshahi divisional secretary Shadman Alif Raihan Joy said buyers including farmers are also suffering as cow markets are closed in the district this time. If the cattle markets are open, the buyers and sellers could check and sort the cows and fix the price in market as proportion.
However, even if few cows are sold from home or from dairy farms, they have to sell their cows at a loss. Such an opportunity has not been created to sell cows online in Joypurhat in a broader scale. He has also been forced to sell two cows at a loss. He is worried about the rest, he added.
