Bumper Harvest: Dhaka’s vegetables remain costly

Staff Reporter :

Despite a bumper winter harvest across the country, Dhaka’s consumers continue to face high vegetable prices, even as farmers struggle to cover production costs.

Visits to major city markets reveal that winter vegetables are abundant, yet prices show little sign of easing, raising concerns over possible market manipulation and the role of middlemen.

Dhaka’s wholesale markets receive vegetables daily from Bogura, Naogaon, Chuadanga, Sirajganj, Rajshahi, Jashore, and other districts, with Bogura alone sending more than 50 truckloads at peak season.
However, traders at Karwan Bazar and Swarighat report that prices remain higher than last year.

“Last year, cauliflower sold at Tk 15–20 per kg wholesale; this year it is Tk 30–35. We buy at higher upstream prices, so retail rates also rise,” said Latif Munshi, a Karwan Bazar trader.

Farmers, by contrast, are often forced to sell at throwaway prices. In Bogura’s Sherpur upazila, Naim Meyajan said his cauliflower fields, cultivated on nearly 10 bighas of land, saw early-season returns between Tk 80,000 and Tk 100,000 per bigha, against a production cost of Tk 50,000.

“Once the peak harvest began, there were no buyers, and prices fell to Tk 5 per kg,” he said. Similar trends were reported at Fulbari and Mohasthan haats, with many growers selling produce in inflated ‘maund’ measurements yet still failing to recover costs.

In Dhaka, however, prices move in the opposite direction. Cauliflower that sold at Tk 25 per piece in late December now commands Tk 40–50. Shantinagar market shows cabbage at around Tk 50 per piece, though in Sirajganj, the same produce sells at Tk 6–10 per piece.

At Jatrabari wholesale hub, cabbage trades at Tk 25–30 per piece before reaching consumers at Tk 50, creating a farm-to-retail price gap of Tk 30–40 per unit.

Tomatoes highlight an even starker disparity. Seasonal tomatoes from Rajshahi sell for Tk 40 per kg at farm level but reach Dhaka consumers at Tk 100–120 per kg. Radish prices show a similar pattern, with farmers in Cumilla selling bundles at roughly Tk 10 per kg while retail prices in Dhaka hover around Tk 30–40 per kg. According to the FAO, Dhaka sells over 700,000 kg of vegetables daily. Even a conservative Tk 20 per kg price gap imposes an extra Tk 15 million daily burden on consumers, amounting to nearly Tk 500 million over January alone.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President AHM Shafiquzzaman attributed high prices to trader syndicates and weak oversight. “Some groups exploit the pre-election period, destabilising markets. Extortion along supply chains is pushing prices up,” he said, warning that prices could rise further during Ramadan.

Former Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor and agricultural economist Abdul Bayes stressed empowering farmers as a long-term solution.

“Single farmers cannot bring large quantities to Dhaka. Cooperatives would allow collective marketing, reduce middlemen, and ensure fairer prices for both farmers and consumers,” he said. NGOs could also support such cooperatives.

Bayes added that dismantling syndicates, fostering competition, and curbing supply-chain extortion could stabilize vegetable markets.

Without structural reforms, the gap between farm-gate and retail prices is likely to persist, keeping winter vegetables expensive for Dhaka consumers despite plentiful harvests.