The price of flowers is slightly higher this year and thanks to three important occasions that fall within a week, flower traders are expecting the monthly revenues in their sector to cross Tk300 crore from selling different kinds of flowers in February, the peak season of flower trading.
Growers and traders said that they sold a remarkable volume of flowers on February 14 this year - marking the first day of the Bengali month of Falgun, and Valentine's Day. Now with International Mother Language Day on Tuesday, another potentially big day for flower sales
Visiting some of the flower shops in Shahbagh, a sufficient supply of flowers was seen in the market.
“As always, this year also due to the good production of flowers, the concerned claim that enough flowers can be supplied as per the demand,” said Rahela Begum, owner of Samara Puspa Bitan in Shahbagh.
In reply to a query on the price of flowers and expected sales across Bangladesh, Muhammad Genarul, proprietor of Shahbagh Flower Garden, said: "This year the price of flowers is a little higher. Each piece is Tk5 to 40, depending on the variety, higher than before. But this year it is understood that the market will go well. Retailers and buyers are already placing full orders in advance.”
President of Bangladesh Flower Society (BFS) Babul Prasad told UNB all the farmers and traders are expecting good sales figures in February.
Babul said: "Last year, Tk50-60 crore worth of flowers were sold daily on those three days (Pohela Falgun, Valentine's Day, and February 21). But if everything goes well this year, the sales amount will be Tk 130 to Tk150 crores on February 21, and all together sales of flowers in February would cross Tk 300 crore."
Flower traders said that most of these flowers are sold in the Shahbagh and Agargaon areas of the capital. The flowers in these two main wholesale markets gets supply from Jessore, Narayanganj, and Savar areas.
Retailers across the country collect flowers from these markets. In the wholesale market, the price of each flower has increased to Tk5 to Tk40 compared to last year, the traders said.
A rose is sold at Tk5 to 60 depending on the quality. Gerbera, Gladiolus is being sold at Tk20 to Tk40, and Rajnigandha at Tk5 to Tk20. At the same time, marigolds are selling at Tk200-400 per 1,000 pieces.
Even though enough flowers are produced to meet domestic demand dis full of fresh flowers, the export activity is very slow. Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data analysis of the last 7 fiscal years shows that the export income from flowers has risen to between $80,000 and $90,000.
Similarly, in the fiscal year 2021-22, the export earnings from flowers were $80000. The export of the current fiscal year 2022-23 (July-January) stood $40000, which is 33.33 percent higher than in the same period last year.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data says that at present, 32,120 tons of flowers are produced on 3,930 acres of land in the country. Roses clearly tend to dominate the domestic production, more than two-thirds (67%) were roses, at almost 22,000 tons.
