Prices of various imported and local fruits have risen abnormally in the markets of Sirajganj, putting many fruits out of reach of ordinary buyers.
Traders said oranges are now selling at Tk 550 a kg, malta at Tk 480 to Tk 500, apples at Tk 350 to Tk 400, grapes at Tk 450 and pomegranates at Tk 450 to Tk 500.
Green coconuts are selling at Tk 100 to Tk 150 each, ripe papaya at Tk 60 to Tk 80, dragon fruit at Tk 140 to Tk 160 and guava at Tk 70 to Tk 80 a kg. Locally grown malta also costs Tk 70 to Tk 80 a kg. Among local fruits, Katimon mango is selling at Tk 200 and watermelon at Tk 70 to Tk 80 a kg.
Fruit traders said prices are higher this time than in other years. They are having to buy fruit at higher prices at the wholesale markets themselves, and so have to sell at correspondingly higher prices.
Toufika Nasrin, who had come to buy fruit, said: “This year the prices of all kinds of fruit in the market, local and imported, have gone up too far. These fruits are beyond the means of ordinary people like us. Prices bear no relation to our incomes.”
Abul Hossain, a fruit trader in Sirajganj town, said: “Fruit prices are high this year. We have to buy at high prices at the wholesale market itself. We sell at what we buy for. But when prices are low, sales are good and so is the profit.”
He said: “When fruit bought at such high prices does not sell, it rots. So we often end up making a loss.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report