Vegetable and Pulse Prices Mounting

Prices of vegetables, lentils, and other essential food items continued to rising rapidly. , which is pressuring on the domestic market. Brinjal, bitter gourd and ladies’ fingers have seen notable price jumps, now selling between Tk 80 and Tk 140 per kilogram depending on the variety. Business men are warn that potato prices are poised for a further increase following a government decision.

On the other hand, vegetables like, Ridge gourd, sponge gourd, and eddo range from Tk 90-110, while leafy greens continue to cost between Tk 20-40 per bunch . The  prices of Papaya remains an exception, which has not increased pricing at Tk 30-40 per kilogram.

The price of  the spices and staples, green chilies saw a little bit fall to Tk 250-300 per kilogram, while tomatoes increased  to Tk 180-200, up Tk 10-30 tk from the previous week. The  local varieties of onion retailing at Tk 85-90 per kilogram. Imported onions, sold at wholesale at Tk 60-62 per kilogram, have not provide  to lower retail prices due to negligible cost advantage over local stock, traders said.

Tk 15-20 increase over the past week on lentil. with finer varieties now at Tk 145-160 per kilogram and coarse lentils at Tk 125-130, 

Market observer Zuhayer  anticipated that rise in potato prices to government intervention. The Ministry of Agriculture recently set the cold storage gate price at Tk 22 per kilogram after months of losses for farmers and traders caused by oversupply.  Costs have increased from Tk 14-15 to Tk 21-22 per kilogram in wholesome market.  It is  concerns that retail prices of Tk 25-30 per kilogram may no longer be sustainable in the long run.

However, Experts imagined  that proper monitoring of the supply chain could reduce  extreme price hikes, but with no maximum retail price in place, consumers are likely to bear the present  impact of rising costs.