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4 years ago

Prices of other essentials also witness rise

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Prices of some essentials, besides onions, witnessed a 80-167 per cent rise in last few weeks affecting the purchasing capacity of commoners further.

Prices of 16 kinds of vegetables witnessed a 70-100 per cent increase due to more than two-month long flood that damaged crops in many places causing a plunge in supply, said the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM).

Onion prices, after witnessing more than 100 per cent rise in last four days, remained as high as Tk 80-110 per kg on Friday.

The price of the spice witnessed such price hike due to the sudden export ban, slapped by key exporter India, on September 14.

The government-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB)  recorded almost 100 per cent rise of onion prices in one week and 167 per cent in last two and half weeks.

TCB even continued its Open Market Sale (OMS) of onion on Friday, the weekly holiday, to ensure the demands of consumers are met at a subsidised rate of Tk 30 a kg.

Vegetable prices shot up notably in last few weeks amid the ongoing flood that caused severe damage to crops in many producing hubs.

Brinjal was selling at Tk 80-90, pointed gourds, sponge, ridge, teasel, snake and bitter gourds were selling at Tk 60-80 a kg, yard-long been at Tk 80-100, cucumber at Tk 60-70, eddo at Tk 60, leafy species at Tk 15-40 a bunch on Friday.

Green papaya was the cheapest vegetable selling at Tk 45-50 per kg.

Tomato was selling at Tk 120-140 per kg while potato prices increased to Tk 40-45 kg.

Alim Uddin Basunia, a vegetable trader at Karwan Bazar in the city, said, flood and heavy rain damaged vegetable fields in most key hubs this year.

He said prices of vegetables might remain high for the rest of the year amid water-logging in the districts which is affecting early winter vegetable farming.

The agriculture ministry said nearly 10,000 hectares of vegetable fields have been damaged by flood while farmers incurred a loss of Tk 2.35 billion.

Apart from vegetables, prices of ginger also increased as prices of imported Chinese ginger shot up to Tk 260 a kg. Local ginger prices also rose to Tk 200-220 a kg.

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