Price of Chinese dry garlic hits record high of Rs 720 per kg

Published On: February 20, 2020 11:23 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Feb 20: The retail price of dry garlic imported from China has climbed to a new record of Rs 720 per kilogram in the domestic market as of Wednesday.

According to the officials of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board, the outbreak of coronavirus has halted the import of garlic from China and the present stock were imported earlier by the traders.

“The garlic which is currently available in the market is the remaining stock kept by importers. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the customs at the border have closed and we are unable to import it from China, so the price has increased,” said Binaya Shrestha, deputy director of the board, “Garlic kept as stock cost more as importers and traders have spent money for its storage, which is the other reason behind the skyrocketing price of garlic.”

The Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board removed dry Chinese garlic from their website on February 6 as there was a shortage of garlic. On February 18, the board once again decided to enlist the price of dry Chinese garlic in its website.

The price of garlic was Rs 640 on February 5 before the board removed it from its website and the price of garlic was Rs 710 on February 18 when the board decided to enlist the price of garlic from that day.

As per the website of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board, the retail price of garlic was traded at Rs 290 per kg until January 15 but since then, the price of garlic has been in an increasing trend.

The board also has started to enlist the price of dry Nepali garlic from February 14 as dry Nepali garlic was not available in the market due to the off-season.

According to Shrestha, although the price of dry Nepali garlic is lower, consumers prefer consuming Chinese garlic due to its fleshy and mature features. “Currently, both dry Chinese garlic and Nepali garlic are available in the market and the price of Chinese garlic is more than the Nepali garlic and people prefer consuming dry Chinese garlic rather than Nepali,” said Shrestha, “Nepali garlic are smaller in size and contains a lot of water but people prefer buying Chinese garlic as it is fleshy, mature and has good taste in absence of moisture.”