Flower farmers of Jessore are enjoying a flourishing business surrounding their three biggest sale days – Pohela Falgun, Valentine’s Day and Language Movement Day.
With no political instability like past years and a surge in demands, flower farmers in Jhikargachha upazila have already sold flowers worth Tk12 crore for Falgun and Valentine’s Day, which fall consecutively on February 13 and 14.
Farmers in Gadkhali and Panisara unions grow 11 variety of flowers around the year, including roses, rajanigandha, gerbera, gladiolas, gypsy and marigold.
The majority of their harvest has already been supplied to Dhaka and other districts ahead of the sales bonanza.
Aminul Islam, a flower grower and trader, said he planted flowers on 14 bighas of his land this year. Although the prices had dropped during the SSC exams, the tides have turned ahead of Pohela Falgun and Valentine’s Day.
Over the past five days alone, Aminul said he has sold around Tk80,000 worth of flowers.
Flower farmers have been able to recover the losses they had to suffer last year because of hartal and political violence, he said, adding that the profits would be higher if the road communication system was improved.
Aminul was echoed by another local flower farmer named Muktar Ali, who said: “Last year, sales were down because of hartal and blockade. This year, the production is better, and so are sales. The farmers are getting more profit as a result.”
Losses are still incurred by the farmers as there is a delay in transporting the flowers to Aricha ferry terminal, he said, urging the government to introduce a rail service for flower supply.
Abdur Rahim, president of Bangladesh Flowers Society, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Flowers worth almost Tk12 crore has already been sold surrounding Pohela Falgun and Valentine’s Day. Farmers of this region [Jessore] are satisfied with the sales.
“Farmers in Gadkhali are also ready for the Language Movement Day on February 21. They have a target to sell a further Tk7 crore worth of flowers surrounding the day,” he added.
Around 1 million people are reportedly directly or indirectly involved with flower farming in Jhikargachha upazila, where commercial flower farming is done on around 3,500 hectares of land.
Currently, around 70% of the country’s flower demand are met by supplies from Gadkhali. Flowers produced there are also exported to Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.
