Eid-ul-Adha is just a few days away, but the farmers of Thakurgaon district are worried as the sale of cattle is uncertain due to lack of buyers amid the coronavirus crisis.
A few thousand small and large cattle farms have been set up in Thakurgaon ahead of Eid. In the meantime, about 14,000 farmers are working to feed the animals ahead of the upcoming Eid. Besides there are different breeds of cows and goats present in the market, including black Bengal breeds of goats and buffaloes.
Due to the high price of cattle feed in the market, farmers have to spend extra money to raise each animal. Many people have been spending on animal husbandry by taking loans from banks or NGOs on interest. But due to the corona epidemic, the wholesalers could not come from outside the district this year and most of the farmers are worried about unsold food.
Former upazila chairman and farmer Taimur Rahman said, at this time of the year, wholesalers would come from outside to buy sacrificial cows.
But due to the corona, there are still no wholesalers this year and the wholesalers are not interested in buying cows as the cattle markets in the divisional cities of the country including Dhaka have been closed.
In this regard, District Livestock Department Officer (DLO) agriculturist Md. Altaf Hossain said, 80,500 cattle have been reared in Thakurgaon district this time to meet the demand of sacrificial animals. These cows will be supplied to different districts of the country by meeting the local demand. Medical teams work in the cattle market of the district 15 days before Eid-ul-Adha.
Medical teams have already been formed in each upazila. Measures have been taken to monitor whether the cattle have been fed by applying any type of steroid hormone etc.
