A Boer breed of goat from Andhra Pradesh awaits its buyer. Tempos and mini vans line up the narrow road of Kurumbarapalli, packed with goats of all sizes. It was Friday, the day of the famous livestock shandy at Kurumbarapalli here.
With only a week to go for Pongal, the shandy was abuzz with activity with buyers from across the Western region and elsewhere making a beeline to the shandy.
The goats here have come from across the district, says VV.G. Govindaraj a livestock trader from Kaveripattinam. Of the 50 goats of the Mecheri breed that he had brought to the shandy, he had sold 40. “The goats here have come from Pochampalli, Singarapettai, Papparapatty, and Kaveripattinam.”
Govindammal, has had a satisfying day. She had sold 17 of the 20 goats she had brought to the market.
A trader, she would visit another shandy next week to buy more animals. Yet, not all traders shared her contentment for the day.
The Friday shandy that was expected to have had bumper pricing with Pongal just a week away, did not fetch much, says Abdul Khader.
The prices this year has dropped with the supply surpassing the demand.
“There are more animals, and meat is served on the fourth day of Pongal. Maybe, the prices will go up from Tuesday,” he says. Last year, we earned Rs. 500 or more per animal,” says Vedi, another livestock trader.
Boers, Thalaserry, and sheep were all loaded up in mini lorries bound for Namakkal, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Vellore, Vaniyambadi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. There will be many trips in the coming week, says a driver.
Yet, the single largest sale was made to the beneficiaries of the Animal Husbandry department’s free goat scheme. “As of this afternoon, over 600 goats have been picked up by beneficiaries,” said Swaminathan, a veterinarian with the Animal Husbandry department, who was examining the health of the animals.
“The beneficiaries can go around and pick up their choice of animals. If they do not find any, they could choose to buy another day,” says Dr. Swaminathan.
