ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Consumers are facing higher costs at the Spanish Town Market, where prices for several key food items have increased this week.

Among the items fetching higher prices are sweet peppers at $500 per pound; ginger at $600 per pound; Scotch bonnet peppers at $400 per pound; and onions at $300 per pound.

Ripe bananas, which have remained costly at other markets in recent weeks, are being sold in Spanish Town for between $400 and $600 per hand, while green bananas are priced at $400 per hand.

Farmer Samuel King, who features in this week’s episode of Market Bag, said extreme heat conditions, torrential rainfall and rising fertiliser costs are contributing to higher food prices across markets islandwide. He also noted that consumers’ reduced spending power has affected market traffic.

In the latest feature, host Carlysia Ramdeen journeys from farm to market, starting in Hartlands, St Catherine, where King shares the realities of farming, selling produce and the price gap between what farmers earn and what consumers ultimately pay.

Catch the latest episode of Market Bag on all Jamaica Observer digital platforms.