Prices of different kinds of vegetables have shot up sharply in Sylhet in recent time due to repeated floods.
Traders and wholesalers said that due the floods, local farmers could not produce vegetables and they are not receiving any deliveries of vegetables from other parts of the country.
Therefore, supply has reduced than the demand and price of the vegetables has increased in the markets.
The prices of green chillies were Tk 55-60 per kg and tomatoes were Tk 70-80 per kg in the wholesale market a few days ago. However, last week, the price of green chillies in the wholesale market rose to Tk 250-300 and tomatoes to Tk 80-90 per kg.
A few days ago, green chillies were Tk 55-60 per kg and tomatoes Tk 70-80 in the wholesale market. Last week, prices surged to Tk 250-300 for chillies and Tk 80-90 for tomatoes. By Thursday, chillies were Tk 400 and tomatoes Tk 140 per kg.
The price of other vegetables is also on rise as wholesale market has a direct impact on the retail market.
Ibrahim Mia, owner of ‘Ma SobjiBhandar’, said that the price of the vegetables in the local and wholesale markets is fluctuating every day due the floods.
A wholesale trader Aftab Mia Chowdhury said that most of the croplands of Sylhet are under water and there are no deliveries of vegetables according to local’s demand from Rajshahi, Munsiganj and other parts of the country.
During a visit to Sobhanighat, the primary wholesale vegetable market of Sylhet, this correspondent found that the place is not as busy as usually remains. While, hundreds of trucks carrying vegetables used to enter every day before the flood, now there is little traffic of vegetables carrying trucks.
Even the number of vegetable sellers using vans has decreased. Small business owners, who used to buy vegetables worth Tk 5,000 previously, are now buying Tk 2,000 worth.
Nururl Haque, a vegetable seller of Mirabazar area, said that he used to come to the wholesale market with a van in the morning and there was a competition among the seller like him about going to the neighbouring area with vegetables first. Due to the floods, the selling of vegetables reduced and no one is interested in buying vegetables for its higher price.
Visiting retail markets, this correspondent also found that the price of vegetables is Tk 30-50 more per kg than the wholesale markets.
Potatoes are sold at Tk 55-60 per kg in the vegetable wholesale markets, while, the same potatoes are sold at Tk 60-70 per kg in the retail markets. Additionally, carrots are sold at Tk 60-70, bulbous root of the arum at Tk 75-80, papayas at Tk 40, cucumbers at Tk 50-60, pointed gourd at Tk 30, bitter gourd at Tk 70, and okra at Tk 50 per kg.
Jahangir Alam, manager of Sobhanighat’s ‘BhaiBhaiBanijjaloy', said that vegetables imports from otherreduced, leading to higher prices.
A resident from Mirer Maidan of the city, Abul Bashar Bacchu, said that no vegetables are available for less than Tk 100. The price of egg, fish and meat is already high, now the increasing price of the vegetables creates sufferings to the consumers, he added.
Sylhet Agriculture Department Deputy Director Abul KhairMollasaid, “Sadar’s Tuker Bazar area is one of the areas of local vegetable production, alongside several other upazilas- Jaintapur, Balaganj and Jokiganj. During this time, farmers usually cultivate radishes, spinach, mustard greens, okra, and Malabar spinach.But this time the farmer could not do it due to flood. As a result, there is a shortage of vegetables in the market.”
