Sales of sacrificial animals before this year’s Eid-ul-Azha amid the Covid-19 restrictions increased fourfold to more than 387,000, the fisheries and livestock ministry data show.
Cattle heads (cows and buffaloes), and goats and sheep worth Tk 27.351 billion had been sold reportedly via online platforms between July 2 and 20.
Sales and purchase of domestic animals have also been done at permanent and makeshift markets opened through relaxation of lockdown for a week, but at far below the level of a normal year.
In 2020, when the first coronavirus case was detected in Bangladesh, a total of 86,874 cattle heads worth nearly Tk 5.957 billion were sold online.
This year, at least 1.81 million farm animals have been posted for sales on some 2,370 digital platforms, both private and public.
It cannot be ascertained how many remain unsold since many of those animals were taken to the permanent and makeshift markets, where overall sales are said to have fallen due to health risks and financial constraints of people.
The pandemic has compelled the farmers and the traders to sell the farm animals through online platforms, also encouraged by the authorities.
Assaduzzaman Bhiyan Rubel (41), a farm owner of Gazipur, reared 120 cows this year and sold all of them via online. The prices of cows ranged between Tk 50,000 and Tk 400,000 each, he added.
According to him, most of the farmers in his neighbourhood sold their cattle heads via online.
While purchasing online, buyers usually prefer cows and goats, but this year, many of them ordered buffalo and sheep, the farmers said.
Dr. Shaikh Azizur Rahman, Director General (DG), Department of Livestock Services (DLS), said they expected higher sales online and expressed hope that online sales would increase in the coming days.
He, however, mentioned that this year some farmers suffered losses since they waited for the last-minute sales for higher profit.