Sales of sacrificial animals pick up at farm level

Like last year, the number of animal sacrifices will increase this year too even though people’s purchasing power has decreased due to inflation and the increased prices of animals, said cattle farmers.

They have expressed the hope that even if the demand does not increase at the rate of last year, it will be above 5 per cent.

According to the farmers, although two weeks are left before Eid-ul-Azha, animal sales have already got momentum at the farm and wholesale level where 60-70 per cent of the animals have already been sold following the growing demand of buyers. However, due to inflationary pressure, the demand for large animals has decreased relatively and the demand for small ones has increased.

Farm owners say 65 per cent of buyers look for smaller animals first. Those who previously bought multiple large animals have reduced the number of large animal purchases. Many farmers are taking advance orders from regular customers as they cannot meet the growing demand for small animals immediately.

According to Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association, there are 88,000 farms in the country. According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, a total of 1.21 crore sacrificial animals were prepared in these farms and common households in 2022. Among those, 99.5 lakh animals, including cows, buffaloes, goats, and sheep were sacrificed. In 2021, 90.93 lakh animals were sacrificed. The number of sacrificial animals increased by 8.62 lakh, or 9.48 per cent, last year.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, inflation was 7.40-7.56 per cent in April-May last year. However, since August last year, inflation has risen to the highest level in the country’s history. The average inflation of the country has increased to about 10 per cent in May last.

Although the overall price inflation is 10 per cent, the TCB data shows that the prices of most of the daily essential food products have increased up to 50-100 per cent. Besides, many people have lost the ability to buy sacrificial animals due to the increase in living costs.

Moreover, due to the increase in the prices of fodder and meat by more than 20 per cent, the price of sacrificial animals has also increased. For this reason, many people think that the number of sacrifices this year will not increase even if it does not decrease compared to the previous year.

Imran Hossain, president of Dairy Farmers Association and owner of Sadiq Agro, told The Business Post, “The sale of sacrificial animals in our farms starts after Ramadan. Most of the animals in the farms have already been sold. Most of the buyers book with some down payment and take delivery of the animal a day or two before the Eid.”

He said the information received from the farms says that the sale of animals will increase this year also, though it may not grow at the rate it did last year. Our analysis suggests that the number of sacrificial animals will increase by at least 5 per cent this year which was about 10 per cent last year. However, the sale of big animals is very slow due to the reduced purchasing power of people. The demand for small animals is comparably much higher.

Farmers generally consider cows above 550 kg as large, 350-550 kg as medium, and below 300 kg as small.

According to the livestock ministry, there are more than 1.24 crore animals in the country this year, of which 50-55 lakh are cows and 60-65 lakh goats. The rest are buffaloes, sheep, and camels.

Farmers said the demand for small cows has been increasing continuously for the past few years. As a result, the farmers are more inclined towards rearing small cows. Among the total cows, 65-70 per cent are small-sized ones this year.

Ali Azam, vice president of the Dairy Farmers Association, told The Business Post, “The inflation and animal prices are high this year, but at the same time, we have to keep in mind that it is the election year. Election years usually increase the number of sacrifices in the country.”

He said, “We have advised the farmers to sell the animals even if the profit is marginal. According to our calculations, the number of sacrifices will increase this year also.”

Md Nayeem, the owner of Nabil Agro in Kachpur area of Narayanganj, told The Business Post, “It is true that some farmers have reduced animal rearing due to the increase in fodder prices, but at the same time, some new farms have started rearing of sacrificial animals. However, this year, the buyers of big animals are coming less.”

He said, “I have prepared 200 cows for sacrifice this year, 70-80 of them are small, and the rest are medium and large-sized. Already 60 per cent of the small-sized cows have been sold. For the rest, customers are coming every day. On the contrary, big cows have been sold below 50 per cent and the buyers are also less.”