Due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevailed in the country, this year ahead of Id ul-Adha which is one month away traders are facing problems selling goats as they are not able to take their goats to local markets. Amid such a crisis, five alumni from Aligarh Muslim University launched a platform to facilitate the sale of goats.
“It is an attempt to launch an online marketplace in order to help goat farmers in the local Moradabad division,” said Khalid Raza, designer of the website to The Hindu.
In our area, many farmers sell their goats in the nearby local markets. Normal goats are sold here while the heavier and special ones are transported to Delhi and Mumbai markets. However, lockdown left farmers with no option to sell their goats, due to the fears of infection. As goat farmers are looking for new options to sell, this platform would help them reaching customers said one of the founders.
Urban cities already have such websites that focus on selling meat and related products. Netlivestock.com aims to capture the rural and semi-urban areas along with empowering local farmers.
The website will have pictures of goats on sale, the beauty, and health of the animal play an important role in the sale of the animal. Goats with certain patterns are favored by people as they are considered lucky.
The website also has the option for customers to visit local villages to see the goats live before buying them. Sahayaks are appointed for this purpose to guide the customers to visit the villages.
The pandemic created problems for the farmers to move their produce. During the lockdown even the state’s government official procurement centres also faced problems. This created heavy losses to farmers in all sectors. Such online initiatives can help farmers to avoid losses and help them continue their operations and introduce technology.
