Vegetable growers in Jashore district are working overtime to hit the winter market early and get a good price and add an extra flavour to Bengali cuisine. The crop fields in Churamonkati, Satmile, Barinagar, Hoibatpur, Kashimpur, Bandabila, Lebotala, Nongorpur and Isali union of Sadar upazila, the hub of vegetable farming in the district, are emerging green with winter delicacies like cauliflower, cabbage, beans, radish, bottle gourds and a variety of spinach.   Read Bangladesh, Somalia to establish cooperation on contract farming According to official sources 60 per cent of the country's total vegetable harvest comes from Jashore. After meeting the local demand the vegetables are supplied to other parts of the country. Although the farmers have blamed unseasonal rain for the delay in early winter vegetable cultivation and its soaring prices, some farmers have already succeeded in taking their produced items in the local market aiming to earn more money. Read Agricultural Loans in Bangladesh: Banks Offering Loans to Farmers and Farms According to the District Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), as the Robi season started in mid-October, the vegetable growers in the district have already brought their land under cultivation which will continue until mid-March. Already the authorities concerned have set a target of bringing 16,730 hectares of land under vegetable cultivation. Of these, winter vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, bean, radish, red spinach and green spinach have been cultivated in some 4,135 hectares of land of the district. Read Seaweed farming can transform Bangladesh’s blue economy: Experts During a tour of the areas this UNB correspondent found that the farmers are passing a busy time in cultivating vegetables in Satmile, Churamonkati, Barinagar, Hoibatpur, Kashimpur, Bandabila, Lebotala, Nongorpur and Isali union of Sadar upazila. Kamal Hossain, a vegetable grower of Bagdanga village in Churamankati in Sadar upazila, said “All kinds of winter vegetables are grown here. As during the peak season, the price of vegetables drops. I have brought my 2.5 bighas of land under cauliflower and cabbage cultivation early to get a higher price.” Read IFAD, govt start distributing HVG inputs, processing equipment to smallholder farmers “I hope I can harvest the winter vegetables before the month of Agrahayana,” he said.

As Muslims worldwide embark on the holy month of Ramadan amid the Covid pandemic, soaring vegetable prices in the kitchen markets of Dhaka threaten to sour the festive spirit for the residents of the city.  Also read: Prices in kitchen markets on the up ahead of Ramadan The prices of aubergine, cucumber, bitter gourd, ladies finger, zucchini, carrot, pointed gourd (patal), arum and green chili have all drastically shot up over the past week in the kitchen markets of the capital, derailing the household budget of many residents who are already hit by the Covid-induced economic slowdown. While residents blame the government for its failure to rein in the rates in the kitchen markets during the festive season, traders attribute the surge to short supply amid the Covid pandemic and rise in demand during Ramadan. A reality check by UNB on Tuesday revealed that traders at several city markets were selling aubergine for Tk70-80 a kg, cucumber for Tk80, bitter gourd for Tk70, ladies finger for Tk60-70, green chili for Tk80, zucchini for Tk60, carrot for Tk60, pointed gourd for Tk60-65, arum at Tk50-55 and yardlong bean for Tk60 a kg. Also read:Govt reschedules office timing for Ramadan According to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data, on April 12, the price of each kg of potato increased by 10.53 percent, onion by 4 percent, garlic by 14.29 percent, local dried pepper by 11.11 percent and the imported one by 3.85 percent, ginger by 29.41 percent and a hali egg by 6.90 percent as compared to the last week.

Rice prices in Dhaka have increased by 28.06 percent over the past year despite adequate reserve and import of the staple, putting extra pressure on the people hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The prices of some winter vegetables remained high in the city’s kitchen markets on Tuesday.