About a month ago a kilogram of malta reached as much as Tk 550. Apples and pears had also risen by around Tk 100 to 150 a kg. Prices have since come down somewhat, but they have not come within reach of ordinary people.

That was the picture on Saturday, 11 October, at fruit shops in several areas of Dhaka. Buyers and sellers say prices of imported fruit have started to fall, but it will take more time for them to return to normal.

Depending on the area, apples now sell at Tk 280 to 380 a kg, against Tk 350 to 400 last month. Pears that sold at Tk 400 to 420 now go for Tk 280 to 300.

Malta sells at Tk 260 to 280 a kg; last month it reached up to Tk 550.

Oranges now sell at Tk 300 to 320. White grapes are still expensive at Tk 480 to 500 and black grapes at Tk 340 to 380. Pomegranates were seen selling at Tk 500 to 520.

Compared with other markets, fruit at Karwan Bazar, Gulistan and Badamtoli in Old Dhaka was Tk 20 to 50 a kg cheaper.

Farid Hossain, a fruit seller at Shantinagar market, said imported fruit prices are not normal yet but have come down a lot from last month. He expects them to fall a little more because there is a good supply of local fruit.

Masud Mia, a fruit seller in Badda, said he had never sold malta at Tk 500 a kg before but had to last month. The same malta now sells at Tk 280 a kg, though in other years it sold for under Tk 200.

Fruit was selling even cheaper at mobile stalls and on vans in neighbourhoods across Dhaka. In Rampura, one van was selling apples at Tk 200 a kg. The seller, Monir Hossain, said their costs are lower than a shop's and their sales higher, which lets them sell cheaper.

Buyers are still not happy with the prices. A buyer named Sumi said she cannot now give her children even half the fruit she used to. "We can't eat foreign fruit. Instead we are eating local guava, malta, papaya and amra," she said. "A while ago I had stopped eating foreign fruit altogether. Prices are slightly lower now, but still not within reach of lower-middle-class people like us."

Fruit traders said imports fell by about 30 per cent this year because of higher duties. After the supplementary duty on fruit was raised in January, wholesale sales fell by a further 20 to 30 per cent.

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