Photo: Messenger
Around the holy Eid-ul-Azha the demand for Mirkadim’s white cow at its peak every year to the people of old Dhaka.
It has been said that many years ago Gani Miya’s Haat started in Rahmatganj of Old Dhaka for selling Mirkadim's white cows only.
According to locals, almost every house in Mirkadim used to rear these special breeds of cows. There were various oil mills, paddy-rice mills here. Various foods were available very cheaply. Now there are rice mills and various factories, but the price of husk and pickaxe is very high. Now only a few families have retained this profession.
However, due to the special rearing techniques of these cows, the meat is as tasty as it is in demand. The cows here are not made healthy by artificially feeding, rather husk, pickaxe, grass etc. are fed and taken care of. As a result both price and demand is high.
Rajib Khan, a local resident of Bangshal, Old Dhaka, came to Mirkadim like every year to buy qurbani animals. He complained that, ” The price of cows is higher than in the past several years. The cow I bought last year was Tk 1 lakh 25 thousand, but this year the price of the same quality cow is about Tk two lakh.” The farmers say that due to the increase in the price of animal food, the price of the cows has been affected this time.
Meanwhile, cow breeders said that there is a lot of demand for Mirkadim cows. A few months before Qurbani Eid, they bought selected cows from different parts of the country. The specialty of these cows is that most of them are white and pure. In this, each cow is sold from Tk 80-90 thousand to Tk 7 lakh. Sellers claim that a cow costs a lot of money to breed. As a result, it is still not possible to make much profit by selling at high price.
In this regard, the district animal resource officer Dr Nazrul Islam said, “Farmers have prepared about four hundred cows for sale on Eid from 13 farms in Mirkadim this year. We will provide full support to the farmers who have been hindered by the increase in the price of cow feed and labor shortage. Free animal treatment has been ensured. Apart from this, numerous farmers have been provided loan facilities from various banks at low interest rates.”
He added, “There is no shortage of fodder as there are industrial plants, factories and hundreds of rice mills, but the price of everything is higher than before. But enough husks are available here. Due to these, the trend of rearing cows is still alive, but now it is on the way to extinction, so the District Animal Resources Department is giving full cooperation to sustain it.”
Messenger/Fameema
