Shortage of sacrificial animals feared this Eid-ul-Azha

Compared to the last few years, the number of sacrificial cows in the country is less than the demand for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, which is thought to be an effect of the complete suspension of cattle import from India this year due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

About 20% of the country's demand for sacrificial cows used to come from outside the country every year, mainly from India, legally or illegally.

This year, the demand may be higher compared to the previous Eid-ul-Azha as people could not go to cattle haats last year due to health hygiene rules and reduced purchasing power during lockdowns amid the pandemic.

However, experts and the Department of Livestock say there are enough sacrificial animals and there will be no crisis.

Agricultural economist Dr Jahangir Alam Khan, former director general of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, thinks the demand for sacrificial animals is not more than one crore this year and people will buy goats or sheep in case of a cattle crisis. 

"The number of cows is less than the demand, but when the supply is low, people buy goats or sheep as an alternative. We have a lot of production of goats which can meet this demand," he said.

Dr Jahangir told The Business Standard (TBS) that 10 to 15 lakh cows used to come from India but it has dropped to less than one lakh as cow production has increased in our country.

According to the Department of Livestock, 50,51,968 cows and buffaloes were sacrificed last year. There are 1,19,16,765 animals suitable  for sacrifice this year, including 45,47,000 cattle (38,58,800 artificially fattened and 6,88,200 domestic ones). The rest are goats, sheep and other animals.

Dr Naznin Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, told TBS that there are chances that the Indian variant of Covid-19 will spread if cows are smuggled through the borders. So, it needs to be stopped completely. The local farmers will also benefit from the move.

STATUS OF FARMS IN BANGLADESH

Since a cow protection policy was undertaken by the then Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh in 2014, the government of Bangladesh has emphasised the establishment of cattle farms.

With an increase in demand for sacrificial animals, many small farms have grown in the country, and in rural areas, many families raise cows and goats on a small scale just for sale on Eid-ul-Adha.

Farmers said they buy a calf at Tk60,000-80,000 and rear it for one year. They spend Tk9,000 per month to rear each cow and sell it at Tk1.5-Tk3 lakh after one year during Eid-ul-Azha. Some cows are sold at higher prices.

Zeenat Sultana, Deputy Director (Farm) of the Department of Livestock, told TBS, "The demand for sacrificial animals for the last four years has been met by domestic livestock. This time too we are self-sufficient. So, we will not have a crisis.

This year there are 1,19,16,765 sacrificial animals – 45,47,000 cows and buffaloes, 73,65,000 goats and sheep and 4,765 dumbas (Saudi Arabian sheep) or such animals brought from abroad, she added.

According to the Department of Livestock, there are 6,98,115 cattle farms in the country, of which most of them are in Chattogram. There are 15,98,315 animals in various farms in Chattogram.

Noting that the number of farms in Bangladesh is increasing day by day, Zeenat Sultana said, "We advise farmers to keep their cattle healthy. Even in this Covid-19, our activities did not stop for a single day."

Mohammad Imran Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association, told TBS, "Farmers have raised more cows this year due to better prices last year. We are hopeful we will be able to meet the demand for Eid-ul-Azha with the animals we have reared."

He added that the association is already making arrangements to sell cows online from their farm. One can buy a cow and keep it there. He can take the meat on Eid day.