Impact of Bulbul: Vegetable prices shoot up by 50pc in Pirojpur

The prices of seasonal vegetables have shot up almost 50 percent in the town’s kitchen markets this year because of the cyclonic storm ‘Bulbul’ that damaged vegetable gardens on vast tracts of land in the coastal area on November 10.

Retail prices of the vegetables, including cabbage, cauliflower, bean and tomato, now range from Tk 50 to Tk 100 a kilogram, which was around Tk 50 a kg in the kitchen markets last year, said vegetable traders.

The storm damaged the vegetable gardens this time just before start of harvesting vegetables, which created a shortfall in vegetable supply in the local markets, said Jahangir Alam, a vegetable trader of the town.

They are now collecting vegetables from different districts to meet the crisis and due to this, the prices of the vegetables are increasing every day, said Jahangir. 

The districts include Jashore, Kushtia, Khulna and Bagerhat.

During this season, the seasonal vegetables were around Tk 50 per kg last year, said buyer Kamrul Islam, adding, that the prices of the vegetables have shot up this time because of Bulbul.

It has now become impossible for general people to buy winter vegetables due to this abnormal price hike, said another buyer Afroza Khanam of the town.

Abu Hena Mohammad Jafar, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Pirojpur, said due to the cyclonic storm, this year’s vegetables were badly damaged and this created a shortfall in its supply triggering a crisis in the kitchen markets.

Cyclone Bulbul has caused losses of Tk 116 crore at different sectors in seven upazilas of the district, according to statistics of the deputy commissioner’s office.

About 558 hectares of agriculture land have been damaged in the district due to the storm.