The long dry spell in the Western Division has caused farmers to raise their vegetable and fruit prices.

For the market vendors, they also had raised their prices because they wanted to make profit.

Nadi market vendor 48-year-old Zaria Bibi has been selling vegetables and fruits for 20 years.

She told the Fiji Sun that she had no say on the prices from her suppliers, but she had to increase her prices because she wants to profit.

“If they lower their prices, I’ll do the same,” she said.

The mother of three said her family had been involved in the market business and she had carried on from what she had learned from her parents.

When asked about her business, she said there were some good and bad days. However, she had survived and would continue as the money she got from the market had helped her family.

She had some established customers and they had also helped her by bringing new faces to her table.

Her customers had asked about the rise in price and after explaining to them that the suppliers had raised their prices, they were satisfied.

Ms Bibi gets her supplies direct from the farmers in Ba and Sigatoka.

She sells a combination of fruits and vegetables like carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, round cabbages, oranges, apples and grapes

Supplier’s prices :

Orange – $55 a box before, $70 now; Apple – $55 a box before, $60 now; Grapes – $7 a kg before, $9 now; Lettuce – $20 a bag before, $20 now; Tomatoes – $20 a bag before, $30 now; Carrots – $35 a bag before, $50 now; Banana – $35 a bag before, $50 now;.

Her prices

Orange – $2 for 3 before, $3 now; Apple – $2 for 4 apples, $3 now; Grapes – $8 a kg before, $9 now; Lettuce – $2 a heap before, $3 now; Tomatoes – $2 a heap before, $3 now; Carrots – $1 a bundle before, $2; Bananas – $3 a bundle before, $5 now.