Middlemen are earning huge profit from the sale of locally produced
onion at higher rate of Tk 70 to Tk 75 to the wholesalers, which the
middlemen purchased from farmers at Tk 24 on an average, consumers
rights group said.
The middlemen pay for advance before cultivation a good amount of
money to the farmers the time of harvest, farmers sell to them under
duress at the given rate, said Consumer Association of Bangladesh
(CAB).
But the retailers blame wholesalers for hike in price, saying there
are plenty of onions in their godowns. The wholesalers’ limitless
greed and the government’s apathy to control markets are to blame for
onion crisis.
Retailer Amjad Hossain, who has been doing business for eight years,
said that the wholesalers had made them hostages, surging the price as
per whims.
Onion price continuously rising, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh
(TCB) will resume open market sale (OMS) of onion from Sunday,
however, at a slightly increased rate of Tk 55, it was Tk 47 earlier.
On Friday, the essential cooking ingredient was selling between Tk 80
and Tk 85 per kilogram (kg) in city markets on Friday.
Commerce Minister GM Quader said, a consumer can buy one kilogram only
to prevent opening of second market on the spot. The TCB will sell
onion in 25 trucks in Dhaka city and in five outside the city, said a
TCB official.
Sources say that the government plans to import onions from Pakistan
and China to create a buffer stock ahead of Eid-ul-Azha and to bring
the price within purchasing capacity of the consumers.
Onion price began to rise after India revised her export price to $650
per tonne from $250. Sources say though the import from India
continues, the quantity is very small.
Monoj Kumar Roy, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce (import),
said that the government had taken a host of measures to bring down
price.
He said that the TCB Chairman Sarwar Jahan Talukder had gone to Teknaf
to negotiate with onion traders of Myanmar.
Meanwhile, the price of different kitchen items per kilogram on Friday
was: Purbal Tk. 40, green papaya Tk 20 to Tk 25, brinjal Tk 50 to 65,
arum Tk 20-25, snake gourd Tk 35-40, bitter gourd Tk 45 to Tk 60,
bean Tk 80, green bean Tk 60 to 70, luffa Tk 35 to 40, okra Tk 35 to
Tk 40, cucumber Tk 40 to 50, cabbage Tk 30 to Tk 35, carrot Tk 70 to
80, radish Tk 30 to 35, tomato Tk 70 to 80, teasel gourd Tk 40 to 45,
and coriander leaves Tk 300 to Tk 350, basil Tk 50 to 60, ginger Tk
140 to 150, garlic (China) Tk Tk 60, local garlic Tk 65, garlic (one
cell) Tk 120 to 130.
Beef was selling at Tk 290- Tk 300 per kg, red meat at Tk 400-450 and
Broiler chicken at Tk 160-170 per kg and local fowl at Tk 600 per kilo
and
A medium size of ash gourd and pumpkin was selling at Tk 35 to Tk 40
and Tk 30 to Tk 50 per piece respectively and cauliflower at Tk 30 to
Tk 40 only. (Staff Reporter)
