Prices of onion and garlic, two everyday staples, have started to fall after India withdrew its order banning onion exports and the supply of garlic grown in the country increased. In a week, onion prices in the capital's markets fell by up to Tk 20 a kg and garlic by up to Tk 70.

The information came from visits on Friday to various markets in the Karwan Bazar, Fakirapool, Rampura, Malibagh Hajipara and Khilgaon areas of the capital.

Good-quality local onions, which sold for Tk 100-120 a kg last week, now cost Tk 80-90. Good-quality imported onions are selling for Tk 90-100, down from Tk 110-120 last week.

Imported Chinese garlic is selling for Tk 170-180 a kg, down from Tk 200-210 last week, a fall of Tk 30 a kg. Local garlic sells for Tk 80-90 a kg, down from Tk 150-160 last week, a fall of Tk 70.

Zahid, a trader at Karwan Bazar, said onion prices had soared here when India stopped exports. "Now India has withdrawn the export ban order, so the price of all kinds of onion has come down. And the price of local garlic has fallen because supply has increased," he said.

He said the price of Chinese garlic had risen from Tk 100 to Tk 200 because of the coronavirus, at a time when local garlic was in short supply. Now plenty of new local garlic is coming to market, so the price of all kinds of garlic has fallen.

Khairul, a trader in Malibagh, said onion prices at Shyambazar fell as soon as India announced it was withdrawing the export ban. "Once exports from India begin, onion prices will fall further. And prices have started to fall as local garlic has also begun to arrive in the market. We expect prices to fall further," he said.

Visits to various kitchen markets showed that the prices of bottle gourd, bitter gourd, tomato, cucumber, flat bean, turnip, radish, carrot, cauliflower, cabbage and brinjal have fallen somewhat over the week.

Bitter gourd, which sold for Tk 120-130 a kg last week, now sells for Tk 100-110. Medium-sized bottle gourds cost Tk 40-50 each, against Tk 60-100 last week. Yardlong beans sell for Tk 60-80 a kg, down from Tk 80-100.

Cucumber has fallen from Tk 30-50 a kg last week to Tk 20-30. Papaya is unchanged at Tk 30-40 a kg. Local ripe tomatoes sell for Tk 30-40 a kg, against Tk 40-60 last week.

Good-quality flat beans sell for Tk 30-40 a kg, down from Tk 40-50. Cauliflower sells for Tk 30-35 each, against Tk 35-40 last week, and cabbage sells at the same price. Carrots sell for Tk 20-30 a kg, down from Tk 30-40, and turnips for Tk 25-30, down from Tk 30-40 a kg.

Brinjal, radish and green chilli are also on the list of cheaper items. Radish has fallen from Tk 30-35 a kg to Tk 20-25, and brinjal from Tk 60-70 to Tk 40-50 a kg. A poa (250 grams) of green chillies sells for Tk 15-20, against Tk 20-30 last week.

Alam, a trader in Khilgaon, said the prices of almost all vegetables had fallen over the week. "The bottle gourd I sold for Tk 100 last week I am selling for Tk 50 today. Ripe tomatoes that were Tk 60 are now Tk 40. There is very little chance of vegetable prices falling below where they are now," he said.

Mamun, a resident of Rampura, said vegetable prices had been high this year even at the peak of the winter season, but bottle gourd prices had suddenly fallen. "Bitter gourd and kochur loti are still very expensive. Onion and garlic prices have come down somewhat, but they should fall further. Onions should be below Tk 50 a kg," he said.

In the fish markets, rui sells for Tk 220-500 a kg, tilapia for Tk 130-170, shing for Tk 300-450, shol for Tk 400-750, pabda for Tk 400-500, tengra for Tk 450-600 and nola for Tk 180-200 a kg.

Broiler chicken sells for Tk 125-130 a kg, Pakistani cock chicken for Tk 230-240 a kg and red layer chicken for Tk 200-220 a kg. Beef sells for Tk 550-570 and mutton for Tk 700-850 a kg. Fish and meat prices were unchanged over the week.

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