Prices of vegetables and fish surged last week raising the sufferings of consumers buffeted by pricey essentials.
Traders attributed the hike of vegetables to last year's floods and ongoing cold weather, which hampered farming in many places.
Prices of cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, bitter gourd, local bean, bottle gourd, tomato, radish, carrot and green peas witnessed a Tk 5.0-Tk 20 hike at per kg last week.
Cauliflower sold at Tk 40-Tk 50, cabbage Tk 30-Tk 45 per piece, brinjal Tk 50-Tk 70, bitter gourd Tk 80-Tk 90, tomato Tk 50-Tk 70 a kg, bottle gourd (laau) Tk 50-Tk 80 per piece, local bean Tk 50-Tk 70 a kg, green pea at Tk 130-Tk 140 a kg on Thursday in the city kitchen markets.
Md Mustaq, a vegetable vendor at Jigatola Old Kitchen Market in the city, told the FE that vegetable prices have been increasing in the last two weeks.
"I bought cauliflower at Tk 38 a piece at Karwan Bazar, which was Tk 32-Tk 35 a week earlier," he said.
Hafez Uddin, a Karwan Bazar-based trader in the city, told the FE that prices of vegetables are 20-25 per cent higher in Bogra, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi and Jessore regions this year as foggy weather has hit supply from the farms.
He said vegetable farming was hampered by two spells of flooding and the ongoing cold weather.
He said that transport costs have surged significantly as single-trip truck fare went up by Tk 4,000-Tk 6,000 on bad roads and odd weather.
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, secretary of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said the price gap of vegetables between the farm level and the retail level in Dhaka is 60-100 per cent.
He emphasised strict market monitoring by the government agencies to minimise the price gap to give the low-income group a breathing space.
Prices of indigenous fish including hilsa, shoul, taki, tengra, golsha, pabda, shing, and magur witnessed further hike by Tk 50-Tk 80 a kg or piece in a week, which traders attributed to low catch.
Prices of onion, however, showed a Tk 5.0-Tk 10 decline a kg in a week as newly-harvested local produce sold at Tk 60-Tk 75 and imported varieties are retailing at Tk 60-Tk 70 a kg in the city.
Traders said India's recent cut in minimum export prices by US $150 a tonne helped ease prices.
Indian media reported that the country fixed new export prices of onion at $700 a tonne from $850 earlier.
