It had been drizzling in the capital since morning. On such a day, hilsa with khichuri is a favourite of food-loving Bengalis, but a tour of the markets found too little hilsa. Large and medium hilsa were priced beyond the reach of ordinary buyers. Sellers called out to customers, but buyers were disheartened by the prices and could not buy much even after bargaining.

That was the picture on 12 September at the Pallabi, New Market, Shantinagar, Segunbagicha and Kazipara markets in the capital.

Depending on the market, hilsa weighing a kilo or more sold for Tk 2,600 to Tk 3,000. Half-kilo hilsa sold for Tk 1,300 to Tk 1,600, and fish of 600 to 850 grams for Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,200. Jatka (young hilsa) was available at Tk 550 to Tk 700 a kg.

Saiful Alam, a fish seller at Shantinagar market, said bad weather at sea and the season drawing to a close meant fishers were not getting enough fish, so supply had fallen short of demand and prices had risen. Manik, a seller at New Market, said the season was nearly over, so the supply of hilsa would not increase.

At the Pallabi 12 No market, this reporter spoke to Sohag Ahmed, a private school teacher. "I haven't bought a large hilsa this year because of the high prices. I thought prices would fall at the end of the season, but they didn't. They asked Tk 2,200 for an 850-900 gram hilsa; I offered Tk 2,000, but they still wouldn't sell," he said.

Another buyer, Mahadi, complained that prices had risen abnormally. Unless the government acts quickly, he said, sellers will make excuses and charge even more next year.

Against this backdrop, the government has decided to export hilsa to India for the coming Durga Puja. The Ministry of Commerce recently issued an order to that effect. This year the minimum export price has been set at $12.5 a kg, or about Tk 1,525. But a one-kilo hilsa cannot be found at that price in Dhaka's markets.

"We have never seen such prices at the height of the season. We cannot afford to eat it ourselves at these prices. If it is exported on top of this, traders will push prices up further. Yet ensuring availability for ordinary people should have been the government's first duty," said S M Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), hilsa is selling at Tk 900 to Tk 2,200 a kg this year, compared with Tk 800 to Tk 1,600 at the same time last year.

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