Retail prices of key vegetables remain at least 50 per cent higher during this peak harvesting season comparing to the same period a year back, official data have showed.
Traders have, however, blamed "poor production" and "higher transport cost" for such hike in vegetables prices.
Disagreeing with the views of traders, the people who deal with such affairs at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and others concerned told the FE that there is no reason for rising prices of vegetables during this peak harvesting season as supply is ample.
High prices are eroding real income of the people especially those of limited income groups, they said.
High priced vegetables may even impact its exports and some competing countries including India may derive benefit from it, insiders said.
Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) data showed that current vegetables prices in Dhaka are 50-100 per cent higher during the January-February period this year than that of the same period a year ago.
Cauliflower was sold at Tk 30-Tk 40, cabbage Tk 30-Tk 40 per piece, brinjal Tk 60-Tk 80, bitter gourd Tk 70-Tk 80, tomato Tk 45-Tk 55 a kg, bottle gourd (lau) Tk 50-Tk 80 per piece, local bean Tk 60-Tk 70 a kg on Saturday in city kitchen markets.
DAM data showed that prices of vegetables were between Tk 20 and Tk 30 (cauliflower) and Tk 30 and Tk 40 (brinjal) a kg during the corresponding period of 2017.
T M Rashed Khan, assistant director at DAM, said higher retail prices in Dhaka are due mainly to a huge price gap with farm level ranging between 60 and 200 per cent, (considering 40 types of vegetables).
He said cauliflower is selling at Tk 12-Tk 15 per piece in Bogra and Sirajganj which is trading at Tk 30-Tk 40 in Dhaka at retail level.
He said per bunch of spinach is selling at Tk 3.0-Tk 4.0 in Keraniganj, Dohar and Savar which is selling at Tk 10-Tk 12 a bunch in Dhaka.
He said the people in Dhaka consume 20 per cent or above 1.4 million tonnes of vegetables annually of the total output.
More than 15,000 tonnes of veggies enter the Dhaka city daily in January and February months --- 50 per cent higher compared to any other month.
As per market reports, there is no shortage of vegetables in wholesale markets like Karwan Bazar, Shaymbazar, Jatrabari, Beribadh.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) director general Mohammad Mohshin told the FE that they were expecting 11.4 million tonnes of vegetables (excluding potato) during the winter season this financial year.
He said 15,000 hectares of land were affected by flood last year but 0.55 million hectares of land come under farming this year, 5 per cent higher acreage.
He said cultivation was delayed in affected areas but overall output might surge this year.
Dr Md Kabir Ikramul Haque, executive chairman of BARC, the supreme body of state-run agri research organisations, said farming was delayed or postponed in some areas amid flooding but overall production might surge amid rise in acreages.
He said the agriculture and commerce ministry officials jointly should conduct strict market monitoring to minimise the price gap between farmers' level and consumers' end.
Secretary of Uttar Karwan Bazar Babosayee Janokalyan Samity Jamal Uddin Babul told the FE that prices of vegetables are 20-25 per cent higher in Bogra, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka and Jessore regions this year following low supply from the farms.
He said vegetable farming was hampered severely by two spells of flooding last year which caused inundation in many areas. Cold wave coupled with dense fog further caused production shortage in December-January, he said.
Md Sohrab Ali, a Shyambazar-based trader, told the FE that transport costs have surged significantly contributing to high prices of vegetables.
It is taking additional 12-15 hours per trip to reach Shyambazar from Rangpur, Bogra and Jessore due to dense fog.
He said truck fares have increased by Tk 4000-Tk 6000 per trip this year due to dilapidated roads and foggy weather.
Md Imran Ali Master, president of Bangladesh Vegetable Wholesalers Association, told the FE that prices of vegetables might show a decline within few days following fair weather but it wouldn't fall to the level of last year.
He also pointed out that there is a huge price gap between Dhaka wholesale and retail levels. "We are selling tomato at Tk 22-Tk 25 a kg at Karwan Bazar which is being sold at Tk 45-Tk 60 at city retails," he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) president Golam Rahman said their survey revealed that the prices of 15 kinds of vegetables went up by 18 to 50 per cent in 2017 than that of 2016.
He said, "Such rising price trend is an alarming reminder of the structural problems in marketing of food items in the country." "Shipments of vegetables to Europe have marked a gradual decline in the last few months as high prices of vegetables in the domestic market have discouraged traders in exporting the produce," said Sharifur Rahman Shourav, proprietor of Sohan Enterprise.
Bottle gourd costs Tk 80-Tk 85 (above US$1.0) a kg at Shyambazar in Dhaka as freight and other charges are too high-Tk 190-Tk 200 ($2.3-$ 2.4) a kg, he said.
"So, the price of one kilogram of vegetable is not less than $3.3, but buyers are offering us $3.0 to $3.2".
He said Indian exporters might grab the opportunity amid their cheaper veggie and low freight charge.
Prof Golam Hafiz Kennedy, vice president of Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association said, the ongoing rising trend in vegetable, rice and other essential prices has been eroding real income of people, especially affecting the limited income groups.
"Daily expenditure of a day-labourer in Dhaka increased by 15 per cent in 2017 when his/her earning was static at Tk 400-Tk 450," he said. Farmers' markets should be introduced at comfortable areas in the city so that the influence of middlemen can be reduced to keep prices within the reach of commoners, he said.
Vegetables contribute nearly 0.8 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Bangladesh Economic Review 2017, published by the finance ministry.
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