FE REPORT
The price of green chilli witnessed a significant hike on Saturday as one kilogram of the spice item was sold retail at Tk 400 in the capital.
Traders have attributed to the squeeze of chilli supply to the markets.
The spice item retailed at Tk 350-400 a kg and wholesaled at Tk 290-330 a kg in Dhaka, this correspondent found during his visit to Rayerbazar, Mohammadpur Agricultural Market and Karwan Bazar.
Haider Ali, a vegetable vendor at Rayerbazar, said wholesale prices shot up to Tk 320 a kg from Tk 220 a day earlier.
Like him, other vendors were also selling green chilli at Tk 350-400 a kg.
Monwar Hossain, a Karwan Bazar-based spice and vegetable trader, said the prices of all vegetables and chilli increased amid a reduction in supply.
He said chilli production in summer is very limited in the country which forced traders to import it.
The trader also said import also declined notably in July-August period for the political instability.
Hossain further said fewer traders could bring chilli in the last one week.
"But, the condition has started to improve as trading started to normalise in land ports," he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said a hike of above Tk 100 per kg in a day is not normal.
He has urged agriculture and finance ministries to disclose the volume, costs of imported chilli on a daily basis and also fix maximum wholesale and retail prices of the perishable.
He said local production in summer season should also be increased by providing farmers with incentives in chilli growing regions.
Data available with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows the country produced 0.656 million tonnes of green chilli in FY'23.
Of them, 0.507 million tonnes were grown in winter and only 0.155 million tonnes in summer.
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