Florists happy over Valentine's Day, Pahela Falgun sales

Flower retailers collect red roses from a wholesale market on Feb 14 2022 morning. UNB

Benapole, Feb 14 -- Gadkhali flower market in Jhikargachha, Jessore, was buzzing ahead of Pahela Falgun, the first day of Spring, and Valentine's Day.

The prices of all kinds of flowers went up ahead of these festivals.

Flower grower Mahbubur Rahman said that each rose, depending on its quality, is being sold for Tk 15 to 20, which was only Tk 1 to 3 a month ago. Gerberas are being sold at Tk 8 to 12 while a thousand Marigolds are fetching up to Tk 700 which was earlier Tk 200-300 only.

After two years of Covid-19, the flower market has been revived ahead of Valentine's Day and Pahela Falgun.

It will help us to make up for the partial losses incurred in the last two years by selling flowers this year, Mahbubur added.

According to the Bangladesh Flower Society, there are 6,000 flower growers in Jessore. They cultivate different types of flowers in 1500 hectares of land.

Jhikargachha Upazila produces at least 11 types of flowers in different areas of Gadkhali, Panisara, Navaran, Nirbaskhola. Various types of flowers including gladiolus, tuberose, rose, gerbera, marigold, gypsy, rodstick, kalandala, chandra mallika are being grown in the vast field of this area, it added.

However, in recent times, a new dimension has been added to Gadkhali through the cultivation of tulips, usually grown in countries with a cold climate.

Every year, the flower growers of Gadkhali present new varieties of flowers on the occasion of Pahela Falgun (Basant Utsav) and Valentine's Day.

Gadkhali's flower market started buzzing with the presence of buyers and sellers from the early morning of Saturday. Hundreds of flower growers came with rose, tuberose, marigold, gladiolus and gerbera flowers.

Wholesalers are seen to buy more flowers than on other days as the demand for flowers has been increasing for the last two days. Due to the high price, flower growers have also brought double the usual amount of flowers to the market.

In this month of the festival, the huge number of flower sales made the merchants happy.

Rizaul Islam said he has cultivated roses on four bighas of land. Caps are placed on rose buds to maintain the quality of flowers though it adds some cost. However, the cost will be recouped with the increase of profits, he hopes.

Ismail Hossain, a  floriculturist from Panisara, has revolutionized flower cultivation in Gadkhali by cultivating tulips for the first time. He has cultivated seven types of tulips of different colors in his small piece of land.

Tulips began to bloom in the last week of January, just in time for the double celebration of Spring and  Valentine's Day.

Covid-19 pandemic as well as different natural calamities have destroyed many flowers. If the current price of flowers lasts for the next fews days, they will meet profit after overcoming all the losses.

President of Bangladesh Flower Society Abdur Rahim said, "We were worried about the government's Covid-19 restrictions.However, the flower market has turned positive . People are buying flowers. It was not possible to set a target for flower sales this time in February."

It is expected that flowers worth at least Tk 20 crore will have been sold in three days, he added.

Masud Hossain Palash, Agriculture Officer of  Jhikargacha Upazila said the government has made arrangements to provide incentives to the Covid-affected flower growers. To make floriculture more modern, the government is keeping an eye on all kinds of facilities available to flower growers, he added. - UNB