Prices of brinjal have increased significantly in the city market with traders attributing the price hike to the ongoing odd climatic condition in most parts of the country which is hampering supply.
Market experts, however, found a strong unholy alliance of middlemen responsible for the sudden price hike ahead of the holy month of Ramadan when demand for the vegetable item usually rises.
Meanwhile, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President Md Golam Rahman said prices of beef, poultry meat, fish, onion and many vegetables increased 23-80 per cent in the capital in the last two weeks, hitting hard the commoners.
Different kinds of brinjal were selling at Tk 70-Tk 100 per kilogram on Saturday and Sunday, up by Tk 20-Tk 30 per kg in two days.
The Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) data showed prices of the vegetable witnessed a 70-90 per cent hike in the last one-and-a-half-week at the retail level in the capital.
Naim Islam, a vendor at Old Kitchen Market of Jigatola in the city, said he bought quality long brinjal at Tk 62 a kg at Karwan Bazar on Saturday, up from Tk 45 a kg on Friday.
He said the round brinjal variety from Jamalpur, known as 'taal begun,' was traded at Tk 70-Tk 75 per kg at Rayer Bazar and Karwan Bazar wholesale markets.
The variety was found selling at Tk 80-Tk 100 a kg at Rampura, Malibagh and different other city markets on Sunday.
When asked, Imran Ali Master, president of Bangladesh Vegetables Wholesalers Association, said, not only brinjal, but also other vegetables became pricier amid persisting rain that hampered standing crops in many districts.
He said it is a season for summer brinjal and there is no way to raise prices of the produce artificially targeting Ramadan.
"The consumers should also be aware," he said adding "They don't need to be panicked to store the veg in a large volume."
He said prices of veg might decline with weather returning to normal in a few days.
Assistant director at DAM T M Rashed Khan said prices of brinjal and some other vegetables increased to some extent in villages. But the prices are still 100-220 per cent higher in Dhaka city than at the farmers' end.
He said brinjal was selling at Tk 22--Tk 32 a kg in Narshingdi, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Bogura and Cumilla districts for last one-and-a-half-week.
Local production is also good, he added.
According to the Horticulture Division under the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers cultivated brinjal on about 14,500 hectares of land during this Kharif season (summer) with an output target of 0.15 million tonnes.
The production of brinjal was 0.33 million tonnes in Rabi season (winter) this year, the DAE data showed.
CAB President Md Golam Rahman said there is no effective market monitoring visible ahead of Ramadan which encourages middlemen and big traders to dominate the market.
