Ginger prices slumped to a six-month low on Sunday in the city, thanks to the arrival of cheaper Indian Kerala variety, traders said.
Importers, however, said the current price at retail is almost double the wholesale level.
Prices of ginger, which hit all time high of Tk280-350 per kg a few days back, went down to Tk90-120 per kg in the last two days.
The spicy item was sold at Tk140-160 per kg on Friday, retailers said.
"The price of ginner has decreased dramatically in the last two days. I've bought a kg at Tk70 from a trader at Nowabganjbazar," Md Shamsul Islam, a retailer at Azimpur Graveyard area, said.
He said at the wholesale, the produce was sold at Tk100-120 per kg on Friday and Tk200-220 per kg 10 days back.
According to the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM), the price of ginger on Sunday was a six-month low.
An official at the department said in April-May period, ginger price was lower than Tk100.
He said local ginger dominates the market from December to April-the harvest and primary trading period.
Naryan Chandra Saha, an importer at Shyambazar in the city, the biggest wholesale of local spices, told the FE that Indian Kerala variety of ginger has entered the country a few days ago.
The price started going down soon after the Indian ginger with new L/Cs entered the country, he said.
The price of Kerala ginger is Tk40-45 and Tk58-60 per kg based on their quality at Shyambazar for last two days.
He also commented that difference between wholesale price and retail price is 70 to 100 per cent now.
"The government agency should take care of the matter," he suggested.
He said Chinese ginger import cost is still higher---Tk280 to 290 per kg--- which stopped them from importing the far-eastern variety.
A trader of Shyambazar, requesting anonymity said apart from the entry of Kerala variety, many traders who stocked the local variety, started to release the item, which also helped reduce the price.
He said local farmers, specially the hill area farmers, will start harvesting ginger from the last week of November, which is also forcing traders to release stored products.
He said: "We've been informed that production will increase significantly this season as many farmers have come back to ginger fields following higher price of the item."
Experts, however, said gradual reduction of domestic output and increasing demand have pushed up import dependency.
Price debacle during harvest, increasing cost of inputs and lack of government incentives forced farmers to shift away from ginger cultivation, they said.
The country's annual demand of ginger is now nearly 0.3 million tonnes, of which only 0.07 million tonnes are met from domestic sources, according to the Directorate General of Food (DGoF).
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed ginger production reduced to 69508 tonnes at 8900 hectares in FY'13 from 74380 tonnes at 9120 hectares in FY'11.
Bangladesh imports ginger mainly from China, India, Nepal and Indonesia.
The country is the seventh largest ginger producer and third largest consumer of the produce, according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation).
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