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Vegetable prices continue to rise in kitchen markets

| Updated: July 09, 2020 22:21:21


Vegetable prices continue to rise in kitchen markets

Green chilli, potato and some vegetables became pricier last week raising woes of consumers.

Chilli prices were between Tk 150 to Tk 180 per kg on Thursday at retail markets which was Tk 100-130 a week back.

Stored potato of cardinal and diamond varieties' prices went up to Tk 30-35 a kg from Tk 28-30 a kg.

Potato of carriage variety price increased to Tk 40-42 a kg.

Most of vegetables, continuing the upward trend in prices, witnessed Tk 10-20 hike per kg in a week, according to kitchen market sources.

Traders attributed the hike of vegetables to heavy rain and flood in many districts which affected supply chain.

Lokman Hakim, a vegetable vendor at Dhanmondi-15, said prices of green chilli was Tk 700 a palla (5 kgs) at Karwan Bazar on Thursday which was Tk 450 a week back.

He said price of the spice has gradually been increasing for last two weeks like all vegetables.

Kamal Hossain Mithu, a potato and spice vendor at Rayer Bazar, said prices of potato witnessed Tk 130-150 hike per 50 kg sacks in a week.

Golam Kibria, a Karwan Bazar based chilli and vegetable wholesaler, said crop fields in Bogura, Jamalpur and Tangail have severely been affected by rain and flood.

He said green chilli supply from big hubs like Jamalpur, has already been halted due to flood.

Vegetable supplies from 14 districts have been interrupted due to flooding and inundation, he added.

Golam said transportation cost is still as high as Tk 2.5-Tk 3.0 which was Tk 0.75 to Tk 1.0 per kg before the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

He said price would remain higher for next few weeks before removal of flood water.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), more than 150,000 hectares of Aus, Aman seedbed, veggie and chilli fields have been inundated in two weeks due to flooding on 16 districts so far.

Above 7,000 hectares of chilli fields have been damaged by flooding and rain in Bogura and Jamalpur, the two key hubs.

However, water level in major rivers in Brahmaputra-Jamuna basin, which declined for last two days, might started increasing again in next 24 hours, according to the report of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).

Water level in Upper-Meghna basin might also surge in a day, said FFWC forecast of Thursday afternoon.

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