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The winter vegetable market in Dhaka has yet to gain momentum, as the arrival of cold weather has been delayed compared with last year, keeping supplies of seasonal produce relatively low and prices high.
Although cauliflower, cabbage, beans, carrots, tomatoes and other winter vegetables have started appearing in the capital’s kitchen markets, their prices remain higher than those recorded during the same period last year.
A visit to Basabo kitchen market on Friday found cauliflower and cabbage selling at Tk 40 apiece, with slight variations depending on size. Beans were priced at Tk 60-80 per kg, radish at Tk 50-60, carrots at Tk 140 and newly harvested local tomatoes at Tk 130. Older local tomatoes were selling for Tk 140 per kg.
New potatoes were being sold at Tk 120 per kg, while old potatoes cost Tk 20-25. Turnips were priced at Tk 80 and broccoli at Tk 100 per kg.
Other vegetables included long eggplants at Tk 50, round eggplants at Tk 60, bitter gourds at Tk 70-80, yardlong beans at Tk 90, and okra, snake gourds and pointed gourds at Tk 60 per kg. Green chillies were selling for Tk 80-100 per kg.
Papaya was available at Tk 20, bottle gourds at Tk 50-60 and pumpkins at Tk 50 per kg. Local cucumbers cost Tk 80, while hybrid varieties sold for Tk 60.
Among other essentials, onions were priced at Tk 50 per kg, local garlic at Tk 90, larger garlic at Tk 180 and ginger at Tk 160. Four green bananas were selling for Tk 40-60, depending on size.
Leafy vegetables remained relatively affordable, with bundles of red amaranth, spinach, Malabar spinach, stem amaranth, water spinach, radish leaves, mustard greens and bottle gourd leaves selling at Tk 15-50.
Traders said supplies of winter vegetables were still insufficient to meet demand, while higher transportation costs were also contributing to elevated prices. They expect supplies to increase and prices to ease from December.
“Almost all kinds of winter vegetables have started arriving in the market, but early-season produce such as tomatoes, carrots and beans remains relatively expensive,” said Rafiqul Hasan, a vegetable trader.
Another trader, Firoz Mia, said prices would likely decline as supplies increased in December.
Consumers, however, said high prices were making it difficult to buy vegetables in the quantities they needed.
“New vegetables have arrived and look attractive, but the prices discourage us from buying them,” said Asma Akter, who was shopping for the week.
Sabuj Rahman said rising prices across the market were forcing households to limit their purchases.
“Traders say prices will fall in December, but then they may point to January. Ordinary people have to shop every day, regardless of their income,” he said.
Chicken prices remained high, with Sonali cock selling at Tk 330 per kg, Sonali hybrid at Tk 290, red-layer chicken at Tk 330, broiler at Tk 180 and local chicken at Tk 670.
The fish market presented a mixed picture. Increased supplies of hilsa helped keep its market relatively stable, although prices remained high. Hilsa weighing around 1.3 kg was selling at Tk 600-800 per kg, while 500-gram fish cost Tk 1,200-1,400 per kg.
Farmed pangas was priced at Tk 180-220 per kg, tilapia at Tk 220-240 and rohu at Tk 350-550. Prices of other fish varied widely, with farmed shing selling at Tk 300-500, local shing at Tk 1,200-1,400, local magur at Tk 900-1,200 and shrimp at Tk 800-1,400 per kg.
Fish trader Shah Alam said supplies of local fish remained inadequate compared with demand, keeping their prices high.
Beef was selling at Tk 800 per kg and mutton at Tk 1,300. A dozen chicken eggs cost Tk 130-135, while a dozen duck eggs sold for Tk 180. Four local chicken eggs were priced at Tk 100 and four Sonali eggs at Tk 70.
Meanwhile, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data showed that prices of coarse rice and sugar increased over the past week. In contrast, prices of onions, imported garlic, local and imported ginger, green chillies and cucumbers declined, while prices of other essential commodities remained unchanged.
