Veggie prices cooling off

With a rise in the supply of winter vegetables, prices of some produces have dropped in the capital's kitchen markets, compared to last week.

However, the price drop has provided little relief for low- and limited-income families as prices of some essentials, including loose soybean oil, onions, and garlic, have gone up over the same period.

Visiting the kitchen markets in the city's Shewrapara, Kazipara, Ibrahimpur and Karwan Bazar yesterday, The Daily Star found that the prices of vegetables like long beans, okra, ridge gourd, and green chillies had fallen by Tk 10-40 per kg.

Rokaya Begum, a resident of Paschim Karwan Bazar, said although the prices of some vegetables have dropped, most of the essentials have remained costly, making it difficult for her husband, a day labourer, to run the family.

"As my husband was struggling to bear the expenses of our six-member family, we had to send three family members to our village home in Barguna's Patharghata last year. However, we're still finding it difficult to make ends meet due to the high price of essentials," she told this correspondent at Karwan Bazar.

Sirajul Islam, who works for a private firm with a monthly salary of Tk 20,000, said he is struggling to support his two-member family as nearly half of his income goes towards rent.

"About a year and a half ago, I could send Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500 to my parents at my village every month. Now, I can only manage Tk 500," he said.

At Karwan Bazar yesterday, beans were sold for Tk 80 to Tk 100 per kg compared to the previous week's Tk 120 to Tk 140.

Cauliflower and cabbage were selling for Tk 40 to Tk 50 each, down from Tk 50 to 60 last week. Green chillies were priced at Tk 120 to Tk 180 per kg, down from Tk 160 to Tk 200.

Brinjal was available for Tk 50 to 80 per kg against the last week's Tk 60 to Tk 100.

Saiful Rahman Chowdhury Sujan, general secretary of Karwan Bazar Arat Malik Samity, attributed the price drop to the arrival of winter vegetables.

"The supply of winter vegetables has been good for about a week," he said.

Potatoes, however, saw a price increase to Tk 70 per kg from Tk 65 last week. Mohammad Sabuj, a trader at Karwan Bazar, attributed the price hike to the depletion of stocks in cold storages.

Broiler chicken was sold for Tk 180 to Tk 190 per kg yesterday, an increase by Tk 10 from the previous week. Sonali chicken was selling for Tk 310 a kg, up from Tk 300 last week.

Local onions were selling for Tk 150 per kg against the last week's Tk 140. However, the price of Indian onions remained unchanged at Tk 120 per kg.

Garlic prices rose to Tk 230 to Tk 260 per kg compared to the previous week's Tk 220 to Tk 250.

Loose soybean oil prices have gone up to Tk 175 to Tk 180 per litre from Tk 170 to Tk 175.

The prices of medium quality and fine rice remained stable at Tk 65 and Tk 90 per kg respectively.