: Online forums are witnessing a surge in the sale of a
different product these days – cows. Tamil Nadu accounts for the largest
number of sale of cows online, with 156 of the 291 recently posted
classifieds in popular forums, centred on the transaction of cows and
buffalo.
“With rains coming in, the sale of cattle
will only pick up, because of easy availability of fodder and water. The
online advertising is to get informed customers who would give us the
right price for our cattle,” said K. Vinod of Murugan Dairy Farm, who
has been in the dairy business for 40 years, but have ventured into the
online space only recently.
Many of Vinod’s customers
in the recent years have been professionals and businessmen settled in
Chennai and other cities, who wish to build a dairy farm in their
ancestral agricultural land that was lying unused for many ways. “With
the export prices of meat and milk products going up, many rich
businessmen have turned to dairy farming as a side business. The
internet is the best way to get in touch with them” he said. Entire
dairy farms have been put up on sale too. S. Parthasarathy who has been
manning one for ten years now, has put his farm on sale on a popular
website. “The cattle business has not been doing well for last two
years, with cost of fodder increasing frequently. The nutrition from
barley used in breweries is barely affordable now, so even the
productivity of the cows has reduced,” he said.
Parthasarathy
has one assistant to manage ten cows and says he spends at least Rs 125
on the six kilos that he has feed every cow. “There is caste among cows
too, with cows being classified according to their colour, size and
breed. The black HF ones are usually considered the best. The broker
charge is usually Rs 3,000 and before every sandai in Pollachi, Erode,
every cattle owner travels much to get the best price for his cattle. “A
lot of that need not be done now. I didn’t know that you can use the
computer to advertise. My nephew put the ad, and in a week, I got five
calls from interested people. Since the pictures and information have
already put up, they only want a scanned copy of the doctor’s
certificate,” he added.
Ads showcasing a variety of
breeds and prices, such as ‘Soft natured, 6 months (3 litres during
previous lactation) kangayam cow and calf – both can be sold
individually - Price Rs 30,000 or ‘Old Vehur cow - height is 75-87cm,
small cow breed, needs less grass and water so small family manage.
Gives 3 litres of milk, useful for medicine purpose and poojai purpose,
Rs 700,’ are available on the internet. Cow sellers say the ‘sindhi’ and
the ‘jersey’ cows get picked faster online. “We keep posting and
reposting the ads about the high-yield cross bred cows to intimate the
AC farms in tiruchy and Pudukottai because these animals that usually
need very good facilities,” said A. Karunakaran, who hails from Vellore
and is now into ‘arranging buyers for those who want to sell their
cows.’
“The failure of the monsoon and absence of
water for irrigation have forced many farmers in Vellore, Thiruthani,
Arakonam to take to the business of buying and selling cattle for meagre
profits. Many of even post ads for others and take a commission if the
deal works out,” he added.
