The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment7 hours ago
With a sharp drop in supply and a significant rise in prices, 50 per cent of the sheep barns in the Filya area in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah have closed down. Some merchants here have attributed the shortage of sheep to the scorching summer temperatures which pose a grave risk to animals' life.
"The high temperature this year will kill the sheep unless we pay more money to cool them down," said Mohamed Nasser, a sheep trader. A local billy goat now costs Dh2,500 as compared to Dh2,000 for a Salalah male goat, according to Ahmed Abdelfattah, a customer.
"The Somali sheep stands at Dh1,300 while the Australian one costs Dh1,000, Dh850 for the Najdi and Kashmiri, and Dh650 for the Indian," said Mustafa Yunus, a sheep trader at the Filya animal market.
A record spike in cow prices has been reported as well. "An Arab cow now costs Dh7,000 as compared to Dh3,000 early this year; Dh4,000 difference," said Sameer Abdullah, another animal trader.
The Filya Market is one of the biggest for imported animals, according to municipality sources. "The market consists of 116 barns for sheep and cows." The central market used to receive over 50 vehicles loaded with sheep on a daily basis, but this is no more, due to lack of supply and demand, they added.
"These are not only for local consumption, but many of these are supplied to other animal markets in the country." Some residents attribute the sharp drop in sheep supply to some other reasons, like greedy traders.
"Some traders have kept their sheep and cows in remote barns to hike prices and make more profits during the Eid Al Adha," said Ali Salem, Emirati. It is really so bad to have the sheep market almost empty, and about half of the barns with not a single goat or cow, said Omar Al Rais, an Emirati customer.
"Those greedy traders must be penalised as they already have enough animals, but they keep them away to increase prices," he added, urging the authorities concerned to take action.
Sherif Al Wakeel, who is a frequent customer of the Filya animal market, said he wanted to buy some sheep, but could not afford buying even one. "This is because of the lack of supply and skyrocketing prices."
One way to solve this problem is to support local animal breeders, suggested Adnan Al Marr. "The authorities concerned should not be depending on imported animals, and help local breeders be self-sufficient." Many of the imported animals die on the way because of the drastic change in weather.
"Most of the animals are imported by sea from Australia and India where the weather is cool, and fail to adjust with the hot weather here," said Sabah Rashid, an animal trader. The Kashmiri sheep also do not like the fodder provided to them here, he added. "They do not accordingly eat well, and die shortly after being imported to the local markets."
Saeed Saleh, an animal trader, expected more animals to be imported from India in September when the weather gets cooler.
"The problem will certainly end, as there will be more supply than demand, and hence the price will significantly come down."
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com
The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment7 hours ago
The students' demands range from a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas to calls for universities to stop investing in Israeli enterprises
world7 hours ago
Despite Kohli's flowing form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, pundits have raised concerns over his strike-rate
cricket7 hours ago
Saudi Arabia has begun to explore extracting lithium from sea water
business8 hours ago
Speaking after meeting Lebanese leaders, French foreign minister says there had been "a lot of progress" over the French proposals
mena8 hours ago
The three-shot winner from Japan says he is aiming to become a member of the PGA Tour in the future
sports8 hours ago
Big-hitting Nienaber falters at the finish to settle for secondwhile former Abu Dhabi resident David Horsey takes the third spot at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
sports8 hours ago
The UAE is India's second-largest export destination after the US
economy9 hours ago