Growers worried as flower price nosedives
Sabdar Hossain, a flower grower of Patbila village in Kaliganj upazila under Jhenidah district, gives a frustrated look at his marigold field after harvesting a portion of the produce as the price has fallen drastically due to reduced demand for the lovely flower.Photo: STAR
Flower price has marked a drastic fall this season, much to the disappointment of the growers in the district. A couple of months ago, a bunch of 8-10 big garlands of marigold which was sold at Tk 160/180 is now being sold at Tk 18/20. Agriculture office sources said, a total of 1200 hectares of land in the district were brought under flower cultivation, mainly marigold, this year. The production cost of my flower on each bigha was around Tk 30 thousand on a leased plot, said flower grower Intaj Ali of Boroghighati village under Kaliganj upazila, who cultivated flower on two bighas this year. I spent over Tk 58,000 thousand but I had to sell flowers at Tk 40,000 only. Another flower grower Asgar Ali of Baliadanga village in the upazila, said he cultivated flower on 10 decimal taking the land on lease. “I also took a few thousand taka as loan from an NGO. But I do not know how I would repay the loan. I would incur a big loss, if the price remains static,” he said. Samir Hossain, Kutib Ali, and Abul Kashem of Trilochonpur union also told similar tales. Flower trader Abdul Khalek of Chandpara village under Kaliganj upazila said, the demand of flower has decreased in different districts mainly in Dhaka and Chittagong. “Although we could recover a little during the last puja we see little hope to make any profit this season,” he said.
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