Vegetable prices up; egg, chicken down

The prices of seasonal vegetables witnessed a slight hike in the city on Thursday after witnessing a decline earlier.
However, egg and chicken showed a slight decline further. But riverine fish remained static at their previous highs.
Most vegetables witnessed a hike in the price by Tk 5.0-10 a kg as traders attributed this price escalation to a squeeze in the supply of summer crops.
Brinjal retailed at Tk 70-90 a kg, eddo and colocasia stem at Tk 80-90, papaya at Tk 45-60, pointed gourd at Tk 60-70 and long-yard bean at Tk 90-110.
Tomato and carrot were static at Tk 180-200 a kg and green chilli at Tk 220-260.
Gausul Azam, a Karwanbazar-based trader, said the short supply of some vegetables caused a Tk 2.0-3.0 hike in price per kg at village level.
As the time of summer crops is nearing end, he says, prices will remain high until the entrance of early winter crops in October.
Mr Azam says rampant extortion in highways and markets has almost come to an end and it is a big relief to make a market sound in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the price of farm egg declined to Tk 140-150 a dozen and Pakistani chicken to Tk 280-290 a kg, marking a Tk 10-20 decline per unit.
Kabir Khan, a Basila-based poultry owner, says the price of day-old chick has declined, resulting in a reduction in value to some extent.
He said the prices of egg and chicken would reduce further had feed prices been adjusted by companies.
Meanwhile, the prices of all riverine fish remained higher. Traders have attributed this uptrend to the sky-rocketing rate of the silvery fish hilsa.
River shrimp 'harina' retailed at Tk 950-1,350 a kg, tiger and galda shrimp at Tk 750-1,050, shoal at Tk 700-1,000 and rui at Tk 650-1,250 depending on their size.
Meanwhile, hilsa was retailing at Tk 1,400-2,350 a kg based on quality and size.
Nuruzzaman Mithu, a fish trader at Rayerbazar in the city, said the price of hilsa is still higher, although the rainy season ended officially.
Hilsa are netted in large volumes during the September-November period, he said, adding that higher prices of hilsa put an impact on other riverine fish.

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