Weekly cattle market thrives in fast-growing Thukkuguda

Despite rapid urban growth around Hyderabad’s Thukkuguda, a decades-old weekly cattle and poultry market continues to draw farmers from nearby districts, offering a traditional platform for buying and selling livestock amid changing suburban landscapes.

Hyderabad: It is 7 am on Monday and Thukkuguda, a suburb in the south of Hyderabad, known for its Hardware Park and RGI Airport, is bustling with unusual activity. Scores of cattle and poultry farmers gather at open land behind the Thukkuguda bus terminal to take part in the weekly cattle and poultry market that remains one of the key features of this municipality in the suburbs.

For more than four decades, the cattle market has been held every Monday. Buffaloes, cows, bulls, hens, roosters and ducks are brought by farmers from different places and put up for sale here. “We gather here every Monday. Sellers and buyers of milch cattle and poultry also converge here,” said Dayanand, a local leader from Thukkuguda.

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The wide roads, high-rise buildings, car and motorcycle showrooms and top-notch educational institutions have changed the face of the suburbs in recent years. However, the old weekly market continues to thrive.

Roop Singh, a dairy farmer from Amangal, roughly 25 km from Thukkuguda, came to the market to sell his cow. “I am unable to rear it anymore. I am looking for a dairy farm owner who will take proper care of the animal,” he said.

Farmers from Amangal, Shadnagar, Kalwakurthy, Amarabad and Devarakonda visit the weekly market regularly.

Raju, a farmer from Kalwakurthy, said they keep moving around different weekly markets in the Ranga Reddy district to sell cattle. “We rely on the market to sell our cattle. We are not familiar with online commerce platforms and depend on the traditional market to sell or buy cattle,” he said.

Eshwar, a farmer from Nednur village, visits the market occasionally to sell poultry. “I raise roosters and hens in my village. I come and sell them at the market. Buyers from Pahadishareef, Chandrayangutta and the old city frequent the market,” he added.

The weekly markets at Mall panchayat, 60 km from the city, are held on Mondays; Mallepalli, 70 km away, on Sundays; and Kalwakurthy, Sardar Nagar and Shadnagar, 55 km away, on Tuesdays, attract many people.

“Although there is a real estate boom in these villages and commercial establishments are emerging on par with city markets, the suburbs are more popular for their weekly markets,” said Arvind Singh, who rears roosters at his house in Dhoolpet.