SINDHULI, Sept 29: The price of goats has dramatically gone up as Dashain festival nears. Consumers say that the price of live goats has been unnecessarily raised by traders because of Dashain festival.

Consumers complain that the price of goats brought from villages to the market has been hiked. 

Most of the households consume goat meat during Dashain and the price has been arbitrarily set, say consumers visiting the market to buy goats. Traders have hiked Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per dharni (2.5 kilograms) of live goats in comparison to last year's price. However, traders say they have hiked the price in line with the hiked price set by the goat farmers of different villages.

Dinesh Ramte, a local of Sindhuli who had gone to the market to buy goat, said that live goat was being traded for Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,500 per 2.5 kilograms, which could be bought for Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 last year. 

 “If the farmers themselves had come to sell their product at the market, the price would not be this high,” Dinesh said, “The price is high because of middlemen."

"There is no goat in the village, so I have come to the market to buy one," he added. "The price has gone almost double."

The production of goats has decreased as very few farmers are involved in goat farming these days. Despite the price rise, the number of people wanting to buy goats has increased in comparison to previous years. 

Shailesh Ale, a farmer from Rampur, had come to the market to sell goats after knowing that the number of buyers seeking goats has increased. 

"I have already sold 10 goats in the market and other farmers have sold out the same number," he said, “I have got good price from it. But due to shortage, there is a slim chance of fulfilling the demand of consumers." 

Another trader said: “There are no goats in the market and they are not brought from outside the district. The price of goats has increased this year.”

Lok Raj Devkota, a local from Mallagaun of the district headquarters, said that the goat price has been increased targeting the Dashain festivals. “I had not heard of this high price before,” he said, “If there is a direct contact between farmers and consumers, there might be some flexibility in the price but if the trade takes place in the presence of middlemen, the price goes up.”

Consumers have been complaining of middlemen profiting from the hiked price. They have reported that the price of goats is getting dearer in markets of Bhiman, Dudhauli, Dakaha, Jhangajholi, Ratamata and Khurkot areas of the district.

 
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