Flood, Covid deal double blow to veg, fruit export

The ongoing flood and Covid-19 pandemic have caused a double blow to the exports of vegetable, fruits and other perishable items. High freight charges of air cargo during the pandemic as well as sky-rocketing prices of veggies in the domestic market due to the flood have severely affected the shipments, said insiders. "The Europe-bound shipments have seriously been hampered due to the high air freight charges," Arif Azad Prince, managing director of Masawa Agro Ltd, told the FE. He said that more than 90 per cent of the exports to the EU countries, specially to UK, are shipped by air. The freight charges increased to US$3.8 to $4.5 per kg during the pandemic as compared to at best $1.8 a kg before the pandemic. Besides, the prices of vegetables like brinjal, eddo, pointed gourd, teasel gourd, bitter gourd and pumpkin trebled in last one and half months in the domestic market. "We are becoming less competitive in the EU region due to the higher air freight charges and pricier local ...