Onion prices soar, veg too dearer
Onion prices shot up by Tk 40-50 a kg yesterday, a day after Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi in a meeting requested retailers and wholesalers to help the government prevent any price spiral ahead of Ramadan in April.
Prices of other cooking essentials, vegetables and fish also remain high, hitting consumers, especially those with limited income, hard at the beginning of the year.
Per kg of onion was sold for Tk 160 to Tk 180 in the capital’s kitchen markets yesterday. Asked, wholesalers claimed the prices went up as rain affected the supply. Consumers, however, blamed the government for the price hike, saying it lacks control over the market.
“The government imported onion. Some local varieties are also available. Then why are the prices still high?” asked Nurjahan Begum, a housewife from Mirpur, at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market.
Talking to The Daily Star at Karwan Bazar, Shantinagar, Jatrabari, and Mirpur kitchen markets yesterday, many other city dwellers expressed anger at the high prices of essentials.
They also wondered why vegetables prices were out of their reach even though it was winter.
“It’s winter. Vegetables are supposed to be cheap now. But there is no sign the prices will go down,” said Akib Javed, who works at a private firm in Mohakhali.
Abdus Salam, a retailer at Karwan Bazar, also said he never saw vegetable prices shooting up when winter is in its peak.
He said in January last year, he sold potato for Tk 15-16 a kg, bean Tk 15-20 while a piece of cauliflower or cabbage at Tk 10–15.
But last week, he sold potato for Tk 25 a kg, and bean Tk 20 per kg. Yesterday, he was selling potato at Tk 30, bean Tk 50 per kg.
He sold a piece of cauliflower and cabbage at Tk 40.
Prices of many other cooking essentials and vegetables have increased significantly than a year ago.
In the meantime, spiralling onion prices keep worrying people.
About a week ago, Rabiul Islam Rabi in Pabna bought onion at Tk 100 per kg, but to his surprise it has almost doubled.
“They are asking Tk 200 to Tk 220 for each kg of onion,” he told this newspaper.
Pabna is one of the biggest onion-growing hubs in the country. A total of 49,800 hectares of land has been brought under onion cultivation in the district this year, with a target of producing 7.5 lakh tonnes of onion, said Azhar Ali, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension.
The crop would not be available in the market until March, he told our Pabna correspondent.
On the other hand, the harvesting of mulkata onion, a local variety, is going to end in a few days.
“Currently, the onion prices largely depend on the supply of mulkata onion. But its harvesting is now at the late stage,” said Abdur Razzak, a wholesaler at Pabna’s Sujanagar wholesale market.
He said prices of onion have gone up due to a lack of supply. He expressed concern that the prices might rise further if enough imported onion was not supplied in the next few days.
Following the meeting with businessmen on Thursday, the commerce minister said the government would import two lakh tonnes of onion soon to meet local demand and arrest any price spiral before the beginning of Ramadan in April.
RETAILERS IN TROUBLE ALSO
Retailers said they were facing troubles due to frequent rise in prices of essentials as customers often get into heated arguments with them.
Abdul Gafur, a vegetable trader in the capital’s Shewrapara, said frequent changes in prices were causing trouble to them. “People don’t want to trust us.”
Other than vegetables, the prices of spices have also increased sharply in the last few months.
Take for example the price of cardamom. Each kg of the spice was being sold at Tk 4,000 to Tk 4,500 yesterday, up from Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000 about six months ago.
Md Enayetullah, president of Bangladesh Paikari Garam Masala Baboshayi Samity, said they import cardamom from Guatemala.
“India usually exports cardamom. But it saw a production loss of about 70 percent this year due to rain. They are also importing cardamom from Guatemala and that’s why the price has increased.”
Enayetullah said Bangladesh’s spice market depends on import. “The price of US dollar has increased recently which will have an impact on the prices of other spices in future,” he added.
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