Many people have still not returned to the capital after the long Eid holiday. As a result, trading has yet to pick up at the Jatrabari kitchen market and fish depot, one of Dhaka's busiest areas. In normal times the market bustles with activity and noise, but the holiday has changed the scene. Fruit shops, however, have seen some customers.

Among mangoes, the king of fruits, no variety other than Himsagar has yet reached the market. After Himsagar mango, lychee was the biggest seller.

These scenes were observed at the Jatrabari depot on Sunday, 31 May. Fish trader Swapan Das, sitting at his shop, told Jagonews24 that many people had still not returned from their villages, and with few buyers, fish arrivals were also low.

Mango and lychee were selling best, and other fruits including dragon fruit, malta, apples and oranges were also on sale. Lychee prices were the same as before Eid, though they had been relatively higher last Friday.

Jatrabari kitchen market trader Gias Uddin told Jagonews24 that there is usually a heavy rush after Eid, but this time the market had not yet got going. Goods were scarce and so were sales.

According to sources at the depot's transport owners' association, goods trucks from various districts had not yet returned to normal, so the supply of fresh produce was low. Market people hope the Jatrabari depot and nearby markets will return to full activity within the next two to three days.

Shopkeepers say many people have not returned to Dhaka because the Eid holiday is not over, so fewer buyers and sellers are coming and trade has not picked up.

On prices, sellers said vegetables were relatively cheap but fish was expensive, with fish prices rising because of low supply. They hope prices will stabilise next week.

A seller named Kashem said there was hardly any demand for meat at Eid, as every household had meat after the Qurbani. Vegetable sales were also low now, he said.

But hospitality for guests and various events at homes have increased after Eid, raising demand for fish. With a shortfall in fish supply, sellers are asking somewhat higher prices, said Fahim Munshi, who had come to buy fish. He told Jagonews24 that although shrimp prices are low in normal times, they seemed a little higher that day.

Small local shrimp was selling at Tk 800 a kg, small tengra at Tk 520, large golda prawn at Tk 1,600, small golda at Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,400 and bagda shrimp at Tk 700 to Tk 1,000. Rui was selling at Tk 350 to 450 a kg, katla at Tk 350 to 450, pangas at Tk 200, grass carp at Tk 260-300 and tilapia at Tk 230-250 a kg.

Large hilsa (over one kilogram) was selling at Tk 2,300 a kg. Hilsa of 700 to 800 grams sold at Tk 1,800 a kg, 600-gram hilsa at Tk 1,400 and 500-gram hilsa at Tk 900 to 950 a kg. Small hilsa was also seen selling at Tk 800 a kg.

At Jatrabari we met Himel, a trader at Pagarmatha bazar in Kadamtali. He was loading pointed gourd, cucumber, green chillies, papaya, yardlong beans, green bananas, kochur loti (taro stolons), okra, aubergine and other vegetables, along with baskets of lychees, onto a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. Asked about prices, he told Jagonews24 that most vegetables had become a little cheaper, but spiny gourd (kakrol) was expensive. Lychee prices had been higher the day before, he said; today arrivals were a little higher and prices lower.

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