Orchids have a long and varied history as the symbol of luxury. It also happens to be the national flower so popular that it is the national flower of Singapore, Brazil, Columbia, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Seychelles and Venezuela.
It is also used to honor heads of states by Singapore with naming different species after them such as the “Dendrobium Sheikh Hasina”, an orchid named to honour Bangladesh’s prime minister, marking her first visit to the National Orchid Garden of Singapore Botanic Garden as the prime minister in March this year.
Orchid flowers have a huge demand in marketplaces around the world.
A significant number of corporate buildings, five-star hotels, embassies and multinational companies in Bangladesh prefer orchids for decoration, not only because of its beauty but the luxury it portrays.
Orchids are now essential additions in special occasions or family programs such as weddings, birthdays and anniversaries.
Bangladesh was initially dependent on orchid imports from Thailand and Malaysia and other countries to meet local demand. But this delicate flower is now being grown in Bangladesh.
Those who started growing orchids in the country are now ready to begin exporting.
Nigel Taylor (L), group director of Singapore's Botanical Garden, shows Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina shows orchids named in her honour during a visit to the Singapore Botanical Garden on March 13 AFP
Orchid cultivation in Bangladesh
Engineer Itemad Ud Daulah, chairman of DIRD group, is a businessman by profession, but he had a green-thumb for gardening. He is the pioneer of orchid cultivation in Bangladesh.
Itemad started growing Orchids in 2002, as a small passion project in a corner of his home in Dulma, a village of Mymensingh, which is 140km away from Dhaka.
Now it has become a large flower garden with 25 acres of land, home to a growing variety of orchid species, along with different flower plants and other shrubs.
His little project now operates under the name Dipta Orchids Ltd.
The tissue culture lab is equipped with all modern equipment, as well as five separate laminar airflow cabinets in order to ensure seed germination in large quantities.
The company cultivates different types of orchids like Dendrobium White orchid, Sonia, Sakula Pink, Satu pink, Yellow Anee, Mokara Die-hard Red.
Dipta meets around 50 -60% of the local demand for Orchid.
The Duncan Brothers (Bangladesh) Ltd has an Orchid garden in Shahbazpur, near Brahmanbaria. The company currently has 10-20% share in the domestic market.
Some other companies like Brac, Micro Orchid Ltd, Omni Orchid Ltd, Energypack Agro would produce some orchids with the hope of exporting many others countries.
“The majority of prestigious hotels in Bangladesh, including Hotel La-meridian, Pan Pacific Sonargoan, Radisson-Blu are being decorated by our flowers and plants,” said Jakir Homain, sales and marketing manager of Dipta Orchid Ltd.
“If we export the flowers we can earn a significant amount of foreign currency, but we are yet to receive any support from the government.”
Currently, Bangladesh is producing more than 1,000,000 different species of orchids each year.
Barriers against exporting orchids
The businessmen concerned pointed out that there are currently no provisions geared towards exporting orchid flowers.
The government does not give any support for taking an initiative for orchid cultivation, and no subsidy is being offered to the cultivators. Many orchid producing countries in the world have these facilities.
Jakir Homain, an official of Dipta Orchid Ltd stated: “However, we have already sent samples of cut orchid to the USA, UK and United Arab Emirate (UAE) and their responses were good.
“However, authorities in Bangladesh still do not permit orchid exports, saying that this particular flower is not enlisted into the cargo product list.”
The orchid flower farms have already requested the Commerce Ministry for enlisting these flowers as an export product, but the ministry is yet to respond on this issue.
What do the authorities say?
The Dhaka Tribune spoke with a Commerce Ministry official for their opinion on orchid exports.
Tapan Kanti Ghosh, additional secretary (export) of the ministry said: “The matter was discussed previously, but none of the orchid companies raised the issue recently. The government wants to diversify the export sector, so allowing export of orchid flowers fits into its plans.
“We are ready to hold discussions with the orchid producing companies and other stakeholders such as the Export Promotion Bureau, if they submit an appeal to us.”
Pointing out that the demand for orchids is rising every day, Prof Jasim Uddin from Botany department of Dhaka University said: “If orchid cultivation is done in a scientific way in Bangladesh, the companies have the potential to take a sizable share of the global market.”
A recent report published by the Bangkok Post revealed that Thailand has scored first in orchid export with cut flowers valued at 2.3 billion baht across the world.