Visiting Gulshan-2 Kitchen Market on Monday, this correspondent found that cauliflower was selling at Tk 50 per piece while cucumber at Tk 90-100 per kg, radish at Tk 45, tomato at Tk 100-110, brinjal (black) at Tk 50 and brinjal (white) at Tk 45, lady’s finger at Tk 60-65, bean at Tk 60-65, carrot at Tk 55 and spiny gourd at Tk 70-75 per kg.
Talking to UNB, Mainuddin, a retailer at the market, said although winter vegetables started to hit the market, their prices are higher this time as cyclone Bulbul damaged those in many places.
Replying to a query, he said the demand for vegetables are much higher compared to the supply.
In Karwanbazar, vegetables are generally sold in bulk in 5 kgs. On average, cauliflower was selling at Tk 42 per kg while cucumber at Tk 80, radish at Tk 38, tomato at Tk 80-90, brinjal (black) Tk 40 and brinjal (white) at Tk 35, lady’s finger at Tk 50, bean at Tk 50, carrot at Tk 44 and spiny gourd at Tk 60 per kg.
Echoing Mainuddin, Momin Hossain, a wholesaler at Karwanbazar, said the number of vehicles for carrying vegetables has reduced on highways after the new Road Transport Act came into force last week. “That’s why the transport cost has also gone up which made an impact on the vegetable prices,” he added.
Kamal Hossain, a vegetable vendor at Mirpur-7, said he bought vegetables from Mirpur-1 wholesale market.
According to him, he bought cauliflower at Tk 20 (small size) per piece, cucumber at Tk 80 per kg, radish at Tk 24, tomato at Tk 80, brinjal (black) Tk 40 and brinjal (white) at Tk 30, lady’s finger at Tk 48, bean at Tk 50, carrot at Tk 50 and spiny gourd at Tk 70 per kg.
Kamal said he was selling those vegetables adding a profit of Tk 10-15 with each item (one kg or one piece).
Replying to a question, he said prices of vegetables will come down if the supply is augmented.
Meanwhile, the onion price at the Karwanbazar wholesale market shot up again on Monday.
Hridoy, a wholesaler, said the local variety was being sold at Tk 220-225 per kg while the Burmese one at Tk 185-90, Egyptian one Tk 125-130 and Chinese variety at Tk 115-120 against Sunday’s Tk 200-220, Tk 180-190, Tk 120-125 and Tk 105-125 respectively.