The fabled Pushkar fair attracted more animals and many more tourists this year but recorded poor business in cattle.

Ironically, the drought that pushed a record number of villages all over Rajasthan to take their animals to the fair to try selling them was also blamed for the poor sales.

Many farmers admitted they just didn't have the money to buy cattle. Despite selling 11,268 animals worth Rs.70 mn at the five-day fair that ended Friday, most traders disappointed.

With 25 of the sprawling state's 32 districts facing drought, the prices of animals did not reach the sellers' expectations.

A Malani breed horse was apparently quoted between Rs.200,000 and Rs.300,000 while a camel cost between Rs.5,000-Rs.50,000.

"I had come here to sell four of my camels. But I am taking three back as the prices offered are much lower," Ladu Ram, a villager from Barmer, said gloomily.

He was not the only one to be disappointed.

"I came to sell my horses but the prices are almost 20-30 percent lower than last year," complained Dungar Singh Rajput, a farmer from Jodhpur.

Fodder sellers, however, did brisk business. According to rough estimates, the fodder sale was much higher than earlier years.

"We sold almost double the quantity every day compared to last year," said an official of an Ajmer dairy that put up a stall at the fair site.

"This was mainly because the number of animals this year was more," he added.

Nearly 23,500 animals were brought to the fair, including 15,000 camels, 5,000 cows as well as buffaloes and 3,000 horses.

"Last year's total was 21,000," an official of the animal husbandry department told IANS.

The growing popularity of the fair, however, was evident as more foreign tourists and traders came.

The foreign tourists were delighted at the sight of the large number of Rajasthan camels but none of them bought any!

--Indo-Asian News Service