Flower farming turns money-spinner at Godagari

RAJSHAHI, Dec 2: Farming of varieties of flowers has turned into money-spinner for many poor farmers of Godagari upazila in the district as they have become self-reliant through the cultivation as alternative crop on their farmland.
Under Second Crop Diversification Project, the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has provided necessary training to the farmers to expand the cultivation of the cash crops.
The farmers of Kodomshohar, Bijoynagar, Kadipur and Amanatpur villages of the upazila have successfully been cultivating flowers  like rose, gladiolus, Rajanigondha and some others species for the last few years.
 Meanwhile, many of them have completed necessary training programmes of the DAE and become more interested in flower cultivation, the DAE sources said.
While talking to The Daily Observer, farmer Abdul Kayum of Kadipur village said that he has got rid of poverty by farming Gladiolus, Rose and Rajanigondha for two years. Narrating his flower farming and marketing process he said his success largely comes from gladiolus farming.   
This year, he cultivated flower on one bigha of land by spending Tk 20,000 and his sale proceeds is expected to be more than Tk 1.5 lakh.   
He will cultivate other kinds of flowers side by side gladiolus on more lands in the coming years, he added.
Shafiqul Islam, another flower grower of Bijoynagar, said that flowers cultivation is very easy and more profitable than others conventional crops. He cultivated only five decimals of lands and earned profit of Tk 20,000.   
Although it's a small scale, the effort has opened up a new dimension of crop diversification in the dried area and will obviously inspire more farmers to cultivate flowers, he added.
Deb Dulal Dhali, deputy director of the DAE, said there is a big market for flowers in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and other neighbouring districts. Traders procure flowers from Jessore and other places to meet up the demand.
He said there is a big market for flowers in the country with an increase in the demand for local and foreign flowers. "The market should be protected and sustainable growth can be achieved growing various kinds of flowers at suitable places across the region."
Gladiolus sticks of different colours like white, red, yellow, scarlet, pink, violet, rosy, lipstick and blue are grown in the same plot, flower growers said. The flower is harvested within 70 days and grows all the year round said the farmers.
Business leaders and agriculturists have suggested boosting cultivation of indigenous flowers to reduce import dependence as the demand for flowers has witnessed a sharp rise in recent times in the region.