Business worth Tk 15 crore out of hand, but traders smiling

Flower growers and traders across the country do business worth Tk 14 to 15 crore this month. Pahela Falgun, Valentine’s Day and International Mother Language Day, three consecutive days in a month, the demand for flowers increased several times in February.

Farmers and traders are fearing that business worth crores of rupees will be lost due to these three days of epidemic. Even after this, there is a smile on the faces of flower growers and traders. The reason for this laughter is that the stagnant business has become active.

Traders and farmers claim that the flower business came to a standstill when the outbreak of corona started in March last year. Somewhere sales come down to zero. Many flower traders closed down their establishments. Gradually the situation is improving. Flower sales have skyrocketed, especially around February. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person. Again the price of flowers is also low.

Delwar Hossain, a florist in Gazipur, said, “I have grown roses and gerberas on about five bighas of land. Corona caused us a lot of damage last year. The market has been a bit better over the last three or four days. I hope I will sell flowers worth 5 to 6 lakh rupees this February. I go myself and sell flowers in Dhaka’s Shahbagh and Agargaon every day. Now flowers worth Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000 are being sold every day. ‘

He said, in February last year, I sold flowers for 15 lakh rupees. Business was much better. I also got good price of flowers. But when the corona starts, the sale kind of stops. I will not cultivate flowers, sometimes I made such a decision. But now that situation is no more. The demand for flowers is increasing again. I’m happy with the low sales.

Sunbd/NJ