With nearly one month left ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha, cattle rearers engaged in fattening bulls and cows are now busy taking care of their animals at their farms of Durgapur upazila of Rajshahi district.
Instead of using chemicals for fattening bulls, the farmers are rather feeding their cattle heads the natural foods like chaffs of various pulses, left-out cooked rice, oil-cakes, straw, and green grass.
But due to the crisis and the exorbitant price of those fodders, the low price of cattle heads, and a temporary ban on setting up cattle markets due to coronavirus pandemic, cattle rearers are now in anxiety. They are apprehending a huge loss by rearing cattle heads in farms like that of the last year.
Minarul Islam (40), a cattle rearer of Alipur village under Durgapur sadar upazila, informed that their paternal business is cattle rearing and fattening. Every year, by rearing cattle heads before Eid-ul-Azha they earn a huge profit.
But last year, they failed to sell their cattle heads properly due to the coronavirus pandemic, and also this year they are in deep anxiety overselling their sacrificial animals before Eid-ul-Azha.
Durgapur Upazila Animal Resource Office sources said farmers are rearing and fattening more than 20,000 cattle heads commercially in seven unions of Durgapur sadar upazila this year.
Cattle traders and rearers informed that these cattle heads will be sold in local haats and markets, and will also be sent to various places of the country after meeting the local demand. These cattle heads will be sold mainly for sacrificial purposes.
The sources further said there are nearly 125 cattle farms in seven unions of the upazila and workers of Upazila Animal Resource Department have trained 125 cattle rearers, supplied them with vitamin and mineral drugs free of cost to rear their cattle heads.
Now, the cattle heads are grown up and fit for sale in the market, but the cattle rearers and traders are finding no place to sell those. The agriculture and the animal resource officials are, however, advising the cattle rearers and cattle traders to sell their animals online.
But, more than 99 per cent of the traders and rearers having no idea about the online markets and the process of transaction of money, are in deep anxiety with their reared cattle heads. They are demanding the reopening of cattle markets soon to save them from a total loss before the holy Eid-ul-Azha.
