General Manager of NFC Hari Narayan Shah told Republica that this time only seven goats died since procurement to sale, compared to 250 last year. [break]
The corporation, which was initially hesitating to get into the goats business due to recurrent losses, recorded a satisfactory business this Dashain, the officials said.
"We were able to sell all the goats by Fulpati - the seventh day of the festival. We had brought 1,400 less goats this year and the sale has been better," said Shah. Last year, NFC had brought 3,605 goats and had to keep selling them till the Nawami - the ninth day of the festival.
By Fulpati, over 35,000 goats and sheep were already sold out in the valley and the number is reported to have jumped to around 45,000 by the end of the festival.
According to Nepal Livestock Traders Association (NLTA), the sale of goats and sheep is encouraging this year as the demand for animals during this year´s Dashain increased by around 30 percent.
However, it said the sale could not top 45,000 this year due to a weak supply. They said the continuous rain affected the supply of goats and sheep in the capital.
Goats were traded in the range of Rs 300 to Rs 320 per kg while the price of mountain goats was between Rs 300 and Rs 325 per kg during the festival.
Though NFC had fixed the price of goat between Rs 258 and Rs 268 per kg, traders at Exhibition Road were reportedly selling mountain goats for as high as Rs 425 per kg.
The consumption of meat increases by 40 percent in Dashain compared to other period and according to the government statistics, Nepal imports meat worth Rs 15 billion annually, making it one of the largest imports after petroleum, gold and motor vehicles.
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