Goat sales in the past week at Khasi Bazaar, Kalanki, one of the main animal markets in the Kathmandu Valley, were down 40 percent compared to last year, traders said. However, they reported that sales had started taking off from Wednesday afternoon. 

According to the Livestock Traders Association at Kalanki, sales totalled 30,000 goats as of the first week of the Dashain festival, a sharp drop from 50,000 goats last year.

“Based on today’s sales trend, we expect business to soar by Thursday,” said Govinda Pathak, president of the association. According to him, goat sales usually peak on Phulpati and Maha Astami, the seventh and eighth days of the meat-heavy Hindu festival. 

According to Pathak, sales at the Kalanki market might also have gone down with an increasing number of local traders doing business from other locations in the Valley. “Many buyers have been drawn away to markets set up by local traders at Mulpani, Koteshwor, Exhibition Road, Sukedhara and other places.” 

Pathak said they had been receiving a large number of domestically reared goats from Gaighat, Katari and Okhaldhunga. Traders also import the animals from Baraili, Sultanpur and Khalpi in India. Goats imported from India fulfil 90 percent of the Valley’s requirement. According to Pathak, Indian goats are mainly sold in the Valley and Pokhara. 

The association has been selling live goats at the rate of Rs500-550 per kg. Pathak said supply this year had been affected due to quarantine controls and stricter scrutiny to prevent shipment of animals by passenger vehicles.

As per the association, consumers are also developing a taste for high hill goats known as chyangra, leading to slackened demand for goats. The association has sold more than 5,000 chyangras till date. Live chyangras cost Rs650-700 per kg.

Meanwhile, Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) said it sold out of goats and chyangras at the start of the festival. NFC Spokesperson Shankar Sapkota said they sold 1,067 goats and 870 chyangras in the past week. 

Last year, the state-owned corporation sold 1,300 goats and 1,400 chyangras. “Last year, NFC suffered losses as it was left with unsold stock, so it decided to slash procurement this year.” NFC had fixed prices of live goats at Rs455 per kg and live chyangras at Rs675 per kg.