Sylhet Correspondent :
Prices of most vegetables have gone up in all the kitchen markets of Sylhet city during Ramzan, affecting the people of fixed and low income people. Aubergin, tomato, bottle gourd and other vegetables are being sold at exorbitant prices putting heavy strain on the budget of the low income people in the district. Prices of the vegetables are almost double for the last few days, market sources said.
Vegetable seller Md Iqbal Hossain of Bandar Bazar in the city said they were charging higher prices from the customers as they had to buy them at higher rate.
The traders said the prices of different kinds of vegetables are high due to low supply and high demand in the markets.
In the previous years, the vegetables produced in different districts were transported to Dhaka and other major cities after meeting local demand.But the farmers in the district this year produced less vegetables compared to previous years, which hardly meet the local demand. They have lost interest in cultivation of vegetable as they could not recoup the production cost in the previous years.
On Sunday, vegetables are being sold at high prices at Puranthana, Boro and Kachari kitchen markets. Aubergin is being sold at Tk 60 to Tk70 per kg, carrot at Tk 80 to 90 per kg, bitter gourd at Tk 60 to 70 a kg, beans (long) at Tk 50 to 60 per kg.
Potato is sold at Tk 25 to 30 a kg while papaya was sold at Tk 30 to 40.Price of eggs is Tk 80 to 90 per dozen, onion Tk 30 to 35 a kg, green chili Tk 90 to 100 a kg, tomato Tk 80 to 100 a kg.
Prices of other vegetables of the kitchen markets are also high.
Md Imam Hossain, a teacher of the district said the prices of vegetables are increasing due to Ramzan. The sellers are raising prices according to their wish as there is no proper monitoring in the kitchen market, he alleged.
Green chilli price shoots
Green chilli sees a staggering five times price hike in a couple of days ahead of the holy Ramadan, said buyers and sellers in the local markets in Sylhet.
Now one kg of green chilli is selling between Tk 90 to 100 against only Tk 20 only four days ago, and the trend continues, local vegetable traders said.
“Only four days ago, we sold one kg of green chilli between Tk 15 to 20 in the wholesale market, and the retailers sold it between Tk 20 to 25. Now the price soared as the growers decreased its supply to sell it for high profit during the Ramadan,” said Abdul Khaleque, a vegetable trader at Subhanighat Bazar, a wholesale vegetable market in city.
Admitting slowing down of the supply of green chilli, a few growers said they had to sell green chilli below the production cost in the local markets last week.
