Prices of vegetables and ginger further rose on Friday imposing extra burden on the consumers already battered by high prices of most essentials.
Cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, bean and lemon witnessed a Tk 10-Tk 20 hike at per kg/piece/haali.
Cucumber sold at Tk 60-Tk 80, bitter gourd Tk 70-Tk 90, bean Tk 50-Tk 60 a kg and bottle gourd at Tk 50-Tk 70 a piece on Friday.
Lemon prices increased by Tk 10 at per haali or four pieces and sold at Tk 36-Tk 40.
Traders said the supply shortage of the vegetables caused the hike while market experts found the influence of middlemen responsible for such higher prices.
Md Rafiqul Islam, a vendor at Jafarabad of Rayerbazar in the city, said he bought cucumber at Tk 300 per palla (5 kgs) on Friday morning from the Beribandh wholesale.
He said the prices were Tk 250-Tk 260 on Wednesday.
Bitter gourd was selling at Tk 350-Tk 360 a palla at Karwan Bazar on the day, said Md Jewel, a vendor at Dhanmondi 15.
Md Imarn Ali Master, president of the Bangladesh Vegetables Wholesalers Association, told the FE that the supply of some vegetables has fallen.
He said Bogra, Sirajganj, Gaibandha, Narshindi, Manikgaj, Rangpur, Comilla are some big cucumber, bitter gourd growing districts.
Farmers in the districts are selling cucumber, both of local and hybrids, at Tk 44-Tk 48 a kg as production was low.
"We are selling those at Tk 50-Tk 52 a kg to the retailers," he said.
"As it is an off-season of lemon, the prices increased significantly in Sylhet, Chittagong Hill Tract and Narshingdi," he said.
President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Md Golam Rahman said that traders are benefiting most depriving both farmers and consumers.
He said that the CAB's market reports showed bitter gourd is selling at Tk 25-Tk 30 a kg in Bogra, which is selling at Tk 60-Tk 62 a kg by the wholesalers in Dhaka.
The same produce is retailing at Tk 80-Tk 90 a kg.
He said bottle gourds were selling at Tk 25-Tk 28 per piece in Manikganj, which is selling at Tk 45-Tk 60 a piece at wholesales and Tk 50-Tk 80 at retails.
Strict market monitoring is needed to minimise the price gap between the farm level and consumers' end, he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) survey on seven seasonal vegetables and five leafy, found a 100 to 566 per cent gaps between the field level and city retails depriving consumers of cheaper vegetables this peak harvesting season.
Tomato was retailing at Tk 20-Tk 25 a kg in different city markets, which has been selling at Tk 3-Tk 4 a kg in Rajshahi, Bogra and Comilla in the last one week, according to DAM data.
The country is expecting a bumper 11.4 million tonnes of vegetables this winter season as some 0.55 million hectares have come under farming, which was 0.534 million hectares last year, the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said.
Ginger prices increased by Tk 15-Tk 20 a kg in the city retails and sold at Tk 90-Tk 130 a kg based on quality.
