Vegetable, Hilsa prices dwindle on the back of improving floods

Prices of vegetables and Hilsa fish moved down Friday while garlic showed a hike, traders said.
Prices of brinjal, snake gourd, ridge gourd, teasle gourd, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, clocasia stem, eddo, long bean, local bean, okra, radish, tomato, chilli, and cucumber etc decreased by Tk5-15 per kg at retail compared to the week before.
Improving flood situation helped normalise the prices, traders said.
Snake gourd was sold at Tk35-40 per kg on at different markets in the city which were Tk45-50 seven days back.
Local bean prices reduced to Tk100-110 from Tk115-120 per kg a week back.
Brinjal prices reduced to Tk60-65 (better) and Tk40-45 (normal) per kg---Tk10-15 reduction at per kg.
"I've bought chilli Tk450 per palla (5kg) today in the morning at Karwan Bazar which was Tk520-525 seven days back," Md Abed Ali (Bachchu), a retailer at Azimpur Graveyard area, said.
He said prices of bitter gourd (korola) were Tk220-225 per palla at Karwan Bazar, which were Tk 275-280 a week back.  
Md Abdul Bari, joint organising secretary of Rayerbazar Kanchamal Aratdar Samity, an association of vegetable wholesalers, said improvement in flood helped reduce prices of vegetables.
Supply has been started to increase from the affected areas with the normalisation of transportation, he said.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) latest data, 30 per cent of the vegetable fields in flood affected 24 districts have completely been damaged by flood.
Vegetable farmers incurred nearly Tk 1.18 billion losses in the flood, the data revealed.
Hilsa prices decreased by Tk 50-Tk 100 at per piece or per kg, thanks to increasing supply from rivers and sea.
Hilsa, below 500 gm sized was sold at Tk350-400 per kg, sized 600 gm-750gm sold at Tk300-400 per piece, fish over 800 gm sized sold at Tk500-750 per piece--Tk50-100 reduction in the last seven days at per kg or per piece.
Garlic, both imported and local, sold at Tk80-90 per kg-Tk5-10 increase in the last seven days.
Most of other commodity prices were static on the day.