Vegetable prices mark fresh spike

FE Report
Prices of a few vegetables including brinjal rose on Friday compared with a week ago, with traders blaming submergence of crop fields by flood water for the hike.   
Prices of coriander and turmeric powder reduced while most of other essentials' prices were static on Friday.
Brinjal prices hit Tk 70-80 (round) and Tk 50-60 (long) per kg, highest after the month of Ramadan.
Prices of brinjal were Tk50-60 and Tk40-50 per kg respectively seven days back.
"I've bought round brinjal Tk 325 per palla (5kg) from Karwan Bazar wholesale today which was Tk275-280 seven days back," Md Shamsusl Islam, a retailer at Nowabganjbazar in the city  told the FE on Friday.
He said prices of other long varieties also increased by Tk25-30 at pr palla during the period.
He said prices of snake gourd, ridge gourd, teasel gourd, pointed gourd, green banana (kancha kola) increased by Tk2-5 per kg or per piece at wholesale in last seven days.
However, prices of eddo, long bean, colocasia stem (kochu loti), okra, radish were static maintaining higher price range.
Prices of bitter gourd reduced by Tk5-10 per kg and sold at Tk60-70 (ustha) and Tk50-60 (korola).
Papaya was the cheapest vegetable in the market, sold at Tk20-25 per kg on the day.
Md Abdul Latif, president of Karwan Bazar Kanchamal Aratdar Baboshayee Samity, an association of vegetable wholesalers in the capital, said water logging is very harmful for vegetables.
"Although water level in the river is receding, but it left a devastating impact on vegetable crops," he said.
"Many of the suppliers from Kurigram, Gaibandha, Rangpur, Bogra, Sherpur, Netrakona, Tangail districts are informing us that thousands of hectares of vegetable fields are severely damaged by flood water," he said.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), nearly 0.17 million hectares of land have been affected by flood water in the country of which 15000 hectares are vegetable fields.
Coriander powder price reduced and sold at Tk260-280 per kg from Tk 280-300 per kg seven days back.
Turmeric powder price reduced to Tk180-190 per kg---a Tk15-20 reduction in a week.