Cardamom price ups to Tk 4,500 per kg

Staff Correspondent: Qurbani Eid at the tip of the nose. Many people are getting busy to buy cattle, for next Monday’s Qurbani Eid. And housewives think about one of the accessories of Qurbani, Masala. Apart from this, they are urging the householders with onion, garlic, ginger.
Even if you don’t buy spices every month, it becomes necessary to buy spices during Qurbani. Because cooking Qurbani meat requires more spices than any other time. Apart from this, semai, phirni cooking also needs some spices. These include cardamom, cloves, raisins, pistachio nuts, cinnamon etc. Again, onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, pepper, coriander powder become relevant for cooking the sacrificial meat or keeping it with a net. However, the prices of almost all spices have increased in the market keeping Qurbani ahead. Traders are citing the increase in import costs.
Cardamom looks very small. But it has a power in terms of price. There are many types of cardamom. Cardamom is now selling at a minimum of Tk 4,000 to Tk 4,500 per kg. However, there is some variation in the price of small grain cardamom and large grain cardamom.
Cloves are used in many ways starting from cooking meat. This spice is one of the ingredients of Ayurvedic medicine. Cloves are one of the essential ingredients for any festive cooking. So, no matter how small a clove looks, it has a distinct groove, so does the price. Cloves are now being sold from Tk 1,500 to Tk 1,800 per kg. Compared to last year, the price of cloves is higher this year.
Raisins are highly valued by housewives. Raisins are closely associated with Phirni especially when there is a festival or wedding ceremony. Again, if there are no raisins while cooking Semai on Eid, the cooking will not be complete. The price of raisins now ranges from Tk 750 to Tk 850 per kg. Last year, the price of this raisin was slightly lower, but the price of the product continued to increase as the year went on.
Pistachio nuts or cinnamon are more or less used in various festivals. One of them is the time of Eid. These pistachio nuts are being sold at Tk 1,300 to Tk 1,500 per kg depending on the type. In some cases, it is being sold at a higher price than this, said the traders of Shantinagar. And the price of cinnamon is rising from Tk 500 to Tk 650 per kg. However, wholesale to retail prices vary greatly.
Apart from Qurbani, the daily spices that are needed in the household are onion, garlic and ginger. Its demand increases during festivals. Onion was sold at Tk 60 a kg a few days ago. After two days, its price becomes Tk 70 to Tk 80 per kg. Now the price of this onion has exceeded Tk 100. Some unscrupulous traders have suddenly increased the prices after hearing about the increase in onion prices in India. Now, during Qurbani, their aim is to push the price even higher. Onion seems to be going out of control now. And Qurbani is like poabaro for many traders.
Garlic is not sitting to compete with the price of onion. After visiting some markets, desi garlic is now being sold at Tk 200 to Tk 240 per kg. But a week ago its price was Tk 170 to Tk 180 per kg. That is, the price of garlic has increased by Tk 40 to Tk 50 in a week. And the price of imported garlic is selling at Tk 250 to Tk 280 per kg. But last week it was sold for Tk 200 to Tk 220.
Market officials say that the garlic production season ended a month ago. As such, the price of garlic should be low. This year, 66 percent of the total garlic production in the country has been produced in Chalanbil area. According to the Bangladesh Agricultural Extension Department, garlic is cultivated in 86,499 hectares of land in the country this year. About 7 lakh 24 thousand tons of garlic is produced.
Although ginger is used more in Kurbani, this spice is needed almost every day in different cuisines. The price of ginger was Tk 250 a kg a few days ago. Now the price has increased to Tk 350. Retail traders feel that wholesale traders are taking advantage here too.
When contacted about the price of spices, the president of Moulvibazar’s spice traders’ association, Enayetullah, claimed that the price of spices is a little lower than last year. However, due to the devaluation of the rupee, the prices have increased slightly due to higher import costs. Regarding the price of cardamom, he said that if the government reduces the duty, then the price will come down. Enayetullah also said, how much cardamom and cumin people eat? Even then, if the price increases a little, there is a fuss. But the price of any thing in the country is low, everything is on the side of increase.
Azmat Ali, a wholesale trader of onions in Shyambazar, said that the price of onions in India has increased. And the supply of onion is less than the demand, so the price is on the rise. He says the same thing about garlic.