Garlic prices rising before Eid-ul-Azha

The prices of garlic increased further over the past week both in wholesale and retail markets mainly due to costly import of Chinese variety, traders said.
"The price local and imported variety of garlic increased by Tk 20 to 25 per kilogram in the last one week," Narayan Saha, a wholesaler of Shyambazar, told the FE
The imported garlic was selling at prices between Tk 90 and Tk 100 per kg in the city's kitchen market on Tuesday, which was between Tk 65 and Tk 80 a week back.
Local variety of garlic was also pricier and selling between Tk 80 and Tk 100 on Tuesday, which was Tk 65 and Tk 75 last week at the retail level.
Traders said the price of local small variety garlic was between Tk 1,600 and Tk 1,800 per maund last week, which is now selling between Tk 2,400 and Tk 2,600.
Local medium size garlic was selling from Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,000 per maund, which is now selling at Tk 2,400 to Tk 2,600.
The price of local big size garlic was between Tk 2,000 and Tk 2,200 per maund, which is now selling at Tk 2,800-Tk 3,000.
A kg of local small size garlic was sold from Tk 52 to Tk 55 last week, which is now Tk 72 to Tk 75. Besides, a kg of local big size garlic was sold between Tk 55 and Tk 60, while it is now between Tk 75 and Tk 85 at wholesale level.   
"The demand of garlic is higher during Eid-ul-Azha than the month of Ramadan," Abul Kalam Azad, a garlic importer of Shyambazar, said.
"This month the imported amount of garlic will be 1000 to 1500 containers whereas the number of containers was 500 only in Ramadan. The capacity of a container is to hold 28 tonne garlic," he said.
He said the price of Chinese garlic is between $780 and $900 per tonne now, which was between $ 650 and $ 750 per tonne, depending on types.
Traders said the prices of both local and Chinese varieties increased. The prices of local garlic might increase further, as the farmers or middlemen are stockpiling the produce to gain windfall ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
But before the Eid-ul-Azha new lot of imported garlic will enter the market, they said.
Garlic is mainly produced in Natore, Faridpur, Rajbari, Pabna and some other districts in the country.
jahangir_fe@yahoo.com