Dengue has broken every record in the country's history, raising demand for fruit to care for patients. At the same time the dollar has reached its highest price ever, sending import costs soaring. Higher demand and costly imports together have pushed the prices of almost all fruit to record levels, leaving ordinary people helpless.

Those who cannot afford the fruit shops, even when they need fruit, are crowding roadside stalls instead. In the Sadarghat area there are roadside stalls selling fruit sorted from rotten consignments, or half-rotten fruit, and in this costly market they are now busy.

The sellers say they buy the fruit at auction straight off trucks, then sort it and sell it at different prices according to quality. Buyers say they have come because they cannot afford the shops.

A visit found a long line of temporary fruit sellers from the road in front of Ahsan Manzil at Badamtoli in the capital up to Wiseghat. They sit on the pavement selling fruit from baskets and sheets of newspaper. Because prices are much lower, people of every class and profession are buying from this floating market.

The sellers said that, depending on quality, their red grapes sell for Tk 250 to 280 a kg, oranges Tk 140 to 160, apples Tk 180 to 200, loose white grapes Tk 150 to 200, pomegranates Tk 250 to 350, dragon fruit Tk 180 to 220 and malta Tk 180 to 220.

The same fruit, with only slight differences in quality, sells for much more in the capital's retail markets. At permanent shops in Sadarghat, oranges were Tk 220 a kg, malta Tk 280 to 320 and dragon fruit Tk 260 to 320. At fruit shops in Raysaheb Bazar, red grapes were selling for Tk 350 to 400, oranges Tk 220 to 250, large pomegranates Tk 500, small pomegranates Tk 350, apples Tk 320 and dragon fruit Tk 250 to 320.

Monirul, a tea-stall owner, had come to Badamtoli to buy fruit. He told Jagonews that fruit prices used to rise when Ramadan came, but since last Ramadan they have been rising day by day. "I haven't bought fruit for two months. Even if we don't need to eat it at home, we have to buy it for the children," he said.

"There is a big difference between prices here and at other shops," he said. "I bought a kilo of loose grapes for Tk 170. There are half-rotten grapes at Tk 100 a kg. Apples cost Tk 280 to 300 in the shops; here I bargained and got them for Tk 180."

Dulal had come from Mitford to buy fruit. "My son has dengue and is admitted at Mitford. The fruit shops are very expensive; I can't find any fruit below Tk 300 to 400. The vans in front of the hospital charge even more, and many people buy there because they have no choice. I heard from the people at the next bed and came to Badamtoli. Prices are much lower here. I got malta for Tk 250. One or two are soft, but not rotten. I bought oranges for Tk 180," he said.

These roadside hawkers also sell fruit that is a quarter or half rotten, at much lower prices still. The sellers said that when they buy from trucks at auction there is no chance to check the fruit: in some baskets everything looks good on top while much underneath is spoiled. They wash and wipe these and sell them for next to nothing.

Liza Akter, a tailor, had come from Jinjira in Keraniganj. Besides loose fruit there is plenty that is a quarter or half rotten, she said; you take it home, cut away the bad part and eat the rest. She had bought some such fruit, and when asked the price said she paid Tk 150 for malta and Tk 90 for apples.

Md Hafiz has sold fruit in front of Ahsan Manzil for 20 years, helped by his wife Shanti Akter. "We sell fruit cheaper than the other shops in the market. Not just poor people, all kinds of people now come and buy here, because it's cheap. We have two kinds of apples here at Tk 180 to 200; at a fruit shop they are Tk 250 to 280, and they charge even more. I'm selling loose grapes at Tk 150 to 200," he told Jagonews.

He said that when fruit arrives from Chattogram and other parts of the country, he buys it off the trucks at auction. He and his wife then separate the good fruit from the bad, and he sells from morning through the day before going home.

Ashiq, a fruit seller at Badamtoli, said: "We sell at a very small profit because we don't pay shop rent or electricity bills. Customers of almost every profession come. Roadside sherbet sellers buy from us too. If we sell Tk 5,000 to 6,000 a day, we make a profit of about Tk 1,000."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.