The prices of chicken, eggs and vegetables have risen further in the capital's markets in a week. Pakistani cock, or Sonali chicken, is up Tk 20 a kg and broiler chicken up by as much as Tk 10 a kg. Eggs have risen by Tk 10 a dozen, and various vegetables by Tk 5-10 a kg.

Visits to various markets in the capital on Friday (17 September) found traders selling broiler chicken at Tk 150-155 a kg, up from Tk 140-145 last week. Pakistani cock is selling at Tk 280-300 a kg, against Tk 270-280 last week and Tk 220-230 two weeks before that.

Explaining the rise, Kaptan Bazar trader Md Liakat said chicken production on farms has fallen while demand in the market has risen. That is why prices have gone up, and judging by the situation, they may rise further, he said.

Rampura trader Md Al Mamun said wholesale chicken prices are very high. Within a few days, the wholesale price of Sonali chicken has risen by around Tk 100 a kg. As a result, chicken they were selling for Tk 220 a kg a few days ago now has to be sold for Tk 300 a kg.

He said the price of Sonali chicken had been comparatively low for a long time, so their sales were good. But because they were getting low prices, farmers cut production. "We think that is why chicken prices have risen," he said.

Egg prices have risen along with chicken. A dozen farm eggs are selling for Tk 110-120, against Tk 105-110 last week. At grocery shops a single egg sold for Tk 9 last week and now costs Tk 10. Some traders are even selling one egg for Tk 11.

Md Jahangir, a trader at Malibagh Hajipara, said the prices of vegetables, fish, chicken and everything else have risen in the market, putting some pressure on eggs. Fewer eggs have also been reaching the market for several days. All of this together has pushed prices up, he said.

In the vegetable markets, traders are selling early winter beans (shim) at Tk 120-140 a kg, as last week. Carrots and tomatoes are selling at Tk 100-120 a kg, also unchanged over the week.

However, the prices of ribbed gourd (jhinga), snake gourd (chichinga), yardlong beans, okra, pointed gourd and bitter gourd have risen. Ribbed gourd is selling at Tk 60-70 a kg, up from Tk 50-60 last week. Bitter gourd is Tk 60-80, against Tk 50-70, and snake gourd Tk 50-60 a kg, against Tk 40-50.

Pointed gourd is selling at Tk 50-60 a kg, up from Tk 40-50 last week. Okra is available at Tk 60-70 a kg, against Tk 40-50 last week, and yardlong beans at Tk 80-90, against Tk 60-70.

Green papaya is selling at Tk 20-25 a kg, green bananas at Tk 2-30 a hali (four), red amaranth at Tk 20-30 a bunch, radish greens at Tk 15-20 a bunch and water spinach at Tk 5-10 a bunch. These prices are unchanged over the week.

Karwan Bazar trader Sabur Ali Bepari said a lot of vegetables were damaged in the fields by rain, which has pushed prices up somewhat. But the supply of early winter vegetables is increasing, so prices can be expected to fall a little in a few days, he said.

Malibagh trader Mintu Sheikh said vegetables are very expensive at the wholesale depots and supplies are low. "We cannot even buy vegetables to our liking after going round the market. We have to pay extra for every kind of vegetable," he said.

He said that with vegetable prices up, they are making losses instead of profits, because sales have fallen as prices rose, and they now have to sell at a lower margin per kg than before.

In the fish market, rui is selling at Tk 280-380 a kg, mrigel at Tk 240-280, tilapia at Tk 160-180 and pabda at Tk 450-600 a kg. Pangas is selling at Tk 120-160.

As before, hilsa of all sizes is available in the market, but prices are still comparatively high. Large hilsa (over one kg) is selling at Tk 1,100-1,300 a kg, medium-sized hilsa at Tk 600-800 a kg and small ones at Tk 500-600 a kg. Hilsa prices are unchanged over the week.

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