BARGARH: Once buzzing with activity, the oldest cattle market in Bargarh district locally known as the Goru Bazar, situated on the premises of the Bargarh Regulated Market Committee (RMC), now bears a deserted look as farmers have gradually shifted to using machineries for farming.
Until a few decades ago, the cattle market witnessed a footfall of thousands of farmers from several blocks of Bargarh district including Attabira, Bijepur, Resam, Sohela, Ghens, Melchamunda, Padampur, Bhatli, Ambabhona among others where majority of them were engaged in farming for their livelihood. Besides, farmers from nearby Sonepur, Balangir, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda markets came here for trading their livestock. The market operated once a week on every Saturday.
Due to the use of traditional methods in farming, cattle especially oxen were a must for every farmer. While small farmers came to the market to buy good local breed of cattle for their farming, others including dairy farmers usually sole their cattle here. The Goru Bazar recorded a revenue in lakhs every month.
However, with a surge in use of farm machineries in the last one decade, many farmers switched to using power tillers, threshers, harvesters and tractors for their farming activities. Meanwhile, as availing loan and subsidy on machineries became easy, the small and marginal farmers too, relied on the equipment for farming. In the meantime, the Goru Bazar eventually started losing relevance as there were no takers of cattle left.
Loknath Pradhan of Attabira block said there was a time when the Goru Bazar was the only reliable market to buy cows and oxen. “Sometimes even farmers from Chhattisgarh came here to buy cattle. From ploughing their fields to clearing the lands after harvest, farmers largely depended on cattle. Sadly it could not be saved due to easy modernisation. Since cattle required maintenance round the year, even small farmers preferred using machineries as they were able to buy them on rent,” he added.