Vegetable prices up as flood spreads
Prices of vegetables are on the rise as incessant monsoon rain and rising floodwater damaged vast farmland in some northern districts.
Take, for example, green chilli. The item was selling at between Tk 90 and 100 per kilogram at different city markets yesterday, up from Tk 60 a week ago.
Prices of eggplant, okra, pointed gourd, ridge gourd and leafy vegetables like red amaranth have also soared.
Eggplant of different qualities was selling at Tk 40-50 a kg, an increase by Tk 10-15 from a week ago. However, a few retailers were asking Tk 60 and above for a kg of eggplant on the grounds of offering better quality.
Retailers blamed supply shortages for the price hike.
Apart from vegetables, prices of rice, onion, sugar and salt have also gone up over the last one month.
“The rainfall and flooding in northern districts is to blame for the spike in vegetable prices,” said Mohsin Munshi, a vegetable retailer at Hatirpool kitchen market.
Mohammad Kamal Hossain, another vegetable retailer at the market, was found asking Tk 40 for each kg of pointed gourd.
He said prices of green chilli had been rising for the last three to four days due to poor supply.
Kamal last week bought each kg of green chilli at Tk 35-36 from Karwan Bazar wholesale market. He claimed to have purchased it at Tk 60 per kg yesterday.
“The prices of fresh produce fluctuate depending on supply. Prices of green chilli have risen due to floods in the country's north,” said wholesaler Mohammad Ashraful Alam who was offering customers the vegetable at Tk 50 a kg.
According to data of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), floodwater in 10 northern districts has inundated crops, including vegetables, paddy and jute, on more than 12,000 hectares of land.
A senior DAE official said vegetable plants would be affected the most. “Plants would die if they remained submerged for a couple of days. This might affect vegetable production,” he noted.
Delwar Hossain, a vegetable wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said prices of vegetables usually remained high in the rainy season compared to those in other seasons of the year due to flooding.
Mohammad Lokman, who runs a shop with his brother at a kitchen market in the city's Kazipara, said prices of eggplants went up by at least Tk 10-15 in the last one or two weeks. He sold the item at Tk 40-60 a kg yesterday. A week ago, he sold it for Tk 40-50 per kg.
However, prices of potatoes remained stable at Tk 25 a kg, Lokman added.
Prices of onion, sugar, garlic, salt and bottled soybean oil have soared, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh. Onion was selling at Tk 25-45 per kg yesterday, up from Tk 20-40 a month ago.
Alamgir Hossain, an importer at Bhomra Land Port, said import of onion slowed down as the Indian authorities allowed only 70 truckloads of onion into Bangladesh every day to ease pressure of shipment of other goods. This has caused onion prices to rise.
Prices of sugar, which started increasing during the month of Ramadan in June, edged up 12 percent to Tk 70-74 per kg yesterday from Tk 63-65 a month ago, influenced by higher international prices, according to traders.
On the other hand, prices of broiler chicken have slumped by 15 percent to Tk 140-150 a kg from a month ago.
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