Prices of some winter vegetables declined in the last few days in the city thanks to a surge in supply of such produces from distant districts.
However, prices of off-season vegs, including snake gourd, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, long-yard bean and pointed gourd remained prohibitive.
Local bean, newly harvested tomato, brinjal, radish, cucumber, coriander leaf and all kinds of leafy became cheaper by Tk 5.0-20 per kilogram/bunch in the last 3-4 days.
Visiting different city markets, this correspondent found snake gourd, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, long-yard bean, pointed gourd were selling at their previous highs of Tk 60-80 a kg on Saturday.
Imported tomato and carrot prices also remained at their previous highs of Tk 130-140 a kg on the day.
Local bean was selling at Tk 45-60 per kg, radish Tk 40-50, brinjal Tk 45-55 and cucumber Tk 40-50 a kg at the city retails on Saturday depending on their quality.
However, consumers got some spaces to take a sigh of relief as more imported tomato and locally harvested green and half-ripened tomatoes hit the market with prices ranging from Tk 60 to 80 a kg.
Price of spinach, a popular and widely-consumed leafy in the winter, declined by Tk 5.0-8.0 per bunch as was sold at Tk 12-15 a bunch on the day.
Malabar spinach (Pui Shak), red spinach, green amaranth, radish leafy and mustard also became cheaper by Tk 5.-6.0 per bunch yesterday.
Cabbage and cauliflower prices, however, remained static and were retailing at Tk 40-50 per piece depending on their sizes, according to traders.
Stored potato prices also showed a slight decline as was sold at Tk 25-26 a kg.
Fayez Hossain, a vegetable trader at Mohammadpur Agricultural Market (Krishi Market), said supply of local bean, radish and leafy has significantly increased thanks to the beginning of harvest in many growing hubs.
He said that cauliflower and cabbage prices were still high as supply from Bogura, Cumilla and other big growing hubs were yet to begin in full swing. Assistant Director of Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) T M Rashed Khan said prices of vegetables have started declining notably in the district level amid a good prospect of production thanks to prevailing favourable weather.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has targeted to produce 14.2 million tonnes of winter vegs on 0.6 million hectares of lands in the country this season.
Rabi season (winter) usually produces over 60 per cent of the country's total vegetables production.
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