Sahib Ali, a florist from Gadkhali, Jessore, is frustrated by the slow sale of flowers. He had cultured roses on an acre of land, eying the yearly “flower season:” The start of spring, Valentine’s Day, and February 21.
The non-stop blockade has gatecrashed his plans – the harvest is in full bloom, but his business has gone to dogs. In the last 15 days, he has not sold even Tk1 worth of flowers.
Sahib Ali loaned Tk150,000 for floriculture. He is liable to pay Tk7,565 per month as each month passes. With the rising bank interests, rises his frustration level.
Sahib Ali says: “I have now capped 30,000 roses that cost me Tk50,000. The target was to send these flowers to Dhaka by February 12, 13, fetching Tk300,000 in returns. The blockade has undone the plans.
“Instead Tk100,000 in profits, my losses could amount to Tk300,000.”
Capping is a process where flowers are dressed in polystyrene envelopes as shown in the picture, causing them to remain fresh for up to 20 days.
The situation is no less dire for other florists in Bangladesh’s kingdom of flowers – Gadkhali, Jessore.
A wholesale flower market sits at Gadkhali every morning. During the blockade days, dysfunction of this mainstay of the supply-chain has caused losses of Tk10-15 lakh per day. In the last 10 days, the total loss was of more that Tk2.5 Crore.
Due to the blockade-caused slowdown, florists may have to count up to Tk10 crores in losses, said the chair of the welfare society of the local florists, Abdur Rahim. Roses now sell for Tk0.20-0.30 per piece. Florists now have put caps on their harvest so that the flowers last through the extended period now required to reach retailers through the Hartal-blockade. Luxury decorative items like Gladiolus, Gerbera have lost most of their value as well. In a desperate plea to save the trade, florists have called for excluding flower-transprting vehicles to be excluded from the purview of the blockades and hartals.
In Jessore’s Jhikargacha upazila, 1,200 hectares across nine unions including Gadkhali, Panisaara are used for floriculture; as many as 11 types of flowers are cultured, satisfying up 70% of the country’s demand.
When spoken to, other florists of the area – Rafiqul Islam from Panisara; Shahjahan, Nazrul Islam from Haria; and Taher Ali from Narangali – reveal they are staring at certain losses this season. They have all harvested Rose, Gerbera, Tuberose, or Gladiolus in 1-2 acres of land, lending money from Krishi, Pubali, or First Security Banks.
They told the Dhaka Tribune, if Tk 500,000 of flowers are sold around the year, only Februry earns Tk 300,000. Sending these flowers to Dhaka, Chittagong would cost florists Tk 250-300 and Tk 800 per bundle respectively; the costs have now risen to Tk800 and Tk 1200, respectively.
Another florist, owning a small-scale firm, Faruk Hossain said: “I cultured Marigold in 1 bigha land (.33 acres approximately) targeting the February sale. I hoped to earn Tk80,000 in the process where Tk50,000 would be my profit. Hence, I had leased another 1.5 bighas. Now, all is lost.”
