The Valentine’s Day and Spring Festival have enveloped the renowned Gadkhali wholesale flower market in a flurry of activity. Buying and selling have commenced vigorously since dawn at this market. This time, in comparison to other flowers, the price of roses, a symbol of love, is significantly higher in the market. Farmers claim that due to weather-related reasons last year, the rose gardens were attacked by viruses. Consequently, with reduced rose flower production, they are fetching higher prices.
On the other hand, traders state that there is a high demand for Gadkhali’s flowers throughout the country. Due to reduced rose flower production and lower imports to the market, they are unable to supply roses according to the demand.
On Sunday morning, Gadkhali’s flower market can be seen bustling with activity. Roses are being sold at Tk 25-30 per piece, Chinese roses at Tk 40 per piece, gladiolus at Tk 17-18 per piece, gerbera at Tk 15-16 per piece, tube rose at Tk 13-15, marigolds at Tk 300-800 per thousand, and chrysanthemums at Tk 3-5 per piece. With Valentine’s and the Spring Festival as the focus, most traders are busier with the buying and selling of roses.
From Nandir Dumuria village, farmer Mr. Shahabuddin has brought 400 pieces of rose flowers to the Gadkhali market on a bicycle. He says, “I used to cultivate roses on nearly one acre of land. But due to fungi and virus attacks, most of the plants did not yield flowers. As a result, production has decreased. However, the prices in the market are good.”
Another farmer, Mehedi Hasan Bakul from Nilkanth Nagar village, says, “I have brought 500 pieces of roses. Traders are quoting prices of Tk 25-30, which we are satisfied with. If the virus had not affected us, our production would have been higher. Due to the virus, if not a thousand, two thousand rose flowers would have bloomed in my garden.”
Businessman Mr. Jewel from Ishwardi has come to buy flowers from Gadkhali market. He says, “For 25 years, I have been buying flowers from this market. Never have I seen such a low supply of flowers. In other years, the market would be flooded with roses. But this year, due to the virus, the number of roses in the market is low. However, the prices are good.” Salim Reza sends flowers bought from Gadkhali to various parts of the country. He says, “The demand for Gadkhali’s flowers is nationwide. But this year, we are unable to supply flowers according to demand due to the low production of flowers.”
Al-Amin, a college student, supplies flowers to various districts of the country online. He says, “For the past two days, the demand for flowers has increased significantly. Especially the demand for roses has increased. The prices are good too. We are taking orders online and supplying flowers.”
Abdur Rahim, the chairman of the Jashore Flower Production and Marketing Cooperative Society, says, “The number of rose flowers in Gadkhali is low this time, but farmers are getting good prices. If roses are sold at a slightly higher price during the next two to three days, they may make up for their losses. We estimate that flowers worth about Tk 40 crore will be sold focusing on World Love Day and the Spring Festival.”
Masud Hossain Palash, an agricultural officer of Jhikargacha Upazila, said, “This year, rose cultivation has been done on 150 hectares of land in Jhikargacha. Due to adverse weather and excessive rainfall, a type of fungus has attacked the rose fields. We are constantly in touch with the farmers and providing them with necessary advice.”
