Fruit prices in Rajshahi have risen by Tk 20 to Tk 50 a kg in the space of 10 days. Shops are stocked with fruit, but few buyers are coming, and those who do are turning away when they hear the prices.

This was the picture at fruit shops in the city's Shaheb Bazar, Laxmipur Mor and near the gate of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on Monday, 2 March. Despite Ramadan, sales are below expectations.

Compared with 10 days ago, most fruits have risen by Tk 20 to Tk 50 a kg. Apples, which sold for Tk 280 to Tk 300, now cost Tk 320 to Tk 340 a kg. Pomegranates have risen from Tk 450-470 to Tk 500-520. Grapes are selling at Tk 400 a kg, Tk 20 to Tk 30 more than before. Oranges, once comparatively cheap, are now Tk 350 to Tk 380 a kg. According to the report, watermelon used to sell at Tk 80 a kg, while there is now hardly any quality fruit below Tk 350.

Buyers say prices of fruit and other essentials rise whenever Ramadan comes, and that effective market surveillance might have prevented this. They want the administration to monitor markets and check price lists regularly, which could bring some relief; otherwise eating fruit will become a luxury for middle- and low-income people.

Rafiq Hossain, who came to buy fruit, said: "Everything is getting more expensive day by day. Fruit is so expensive that it is not possible to have it at iftar. It is hard to buy even a kilogram of fruit with a whole day's income. It seems fruit is not for everyone, only for looking at."

Abdus Sattar, who had come to Laxmipur Mor to visit a patient, said: "I thought I would buy a kilogram of pomegranates. The price went over my head. How can we eat at these prices? It is embarrassing to go empty-handed, but it is also impossible to buy at such a price."

Aslam Hossain, shopping at Shaheb Bazar, said: "Hearing fruit prices makes my blood boil. It is as if money grows on trees! I cannot afford fruit at such prices. I would go without rather than buy it."

Tariqul Islam, a fruit seller near the Rajshahi Medical College gate, said prices have risen in the wholesale market, so retail prices have gone up a little. But sales are lower than expected for Ramadan, as people leave when they hear the prices. He added that fruit prices were already relatively high and have risen somewhat further, though traders say prices were adjusted because costs had risen.

Md Ibrahim Hossain, deputy director of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection for Rajshahi division, said: "We are monitoring the markets every day for the holy month of Ramadan, and we are keeping track of the fruit market too. In particular, we are checking receipts for the prices at which bananas, apples and malta were bought. Where we find irregularities we are taking action, and we will continue this work."

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