Winter veg prices on downturn, other commodities costlier.

Prices of winter vegetables have gradually come down with the arrival of huge seasonal vegetables in the local kitchen markets of major production-hub regions like Rajshahi, Narsingdi and Jashore, though some other necessaries turned costlier. A market survey saw prices of other commodities, including daily necessaries, high as oil and sugar prices in particular were jacked up in the capital, Dhaka, in recent days. "Edible oil prices have increased thrice in past few days," many a trader in the city said Monday. A five-litre can of soybean oil sells at Tk 625 or above and packeted sugar at Tk 72 to Tk 74. "Prices of all vegetables are very low," Abdur Rahman Mandol of Ratugram in famous Taherpur agricultural belt in Rajshahi, who is doing commercial farming after return from Malaysia years back, told this correspondent by phone on Tuesday. Kartik Saha, a businessman in Taherpur market, said there are huge arrivals of vegetables and prices are cheap. "One-kilo cauliflower sells at Tk 10 or below," he said. Onion sells at Tk 800 per maund on the wholesale market and best-quality local variety of potato Tk 20 or so at retail rate. Carrot is dirt cheap. A report from Narsingdi said some traders of vegetables in different upazilas said prices of vegetables recorded a declining trend with the plenty of supply of winter vegetables in the wholesale and retail markets. They said...