Benapole: Florists in Jessore are hustling to hold on to the orders at the fag end of preparation for celebration of Pahela Falgun and Valentine’s Day.

As ever, there has been a surge in sales of flowers at Godkhali in Jhikargacha upazila, the flower hub of the district, said farmers and traders.

Market insiders said flower sale has already hit Tk8 crore and they expect several crores of taka in sale during the two festivals.

Godkhali flower wholesale market is one of the country’s largest, which accounts for 70 percent of the total flower supply.

Farmers said this year both production and demand of flowers have increased and prices of flowers are also higher than the last year.

If the sale trend continues, it will go beyond two times than that of the previous year, they hoped.

Abdur Rahim, president of Godkhali Flower Traders’ Association, said flowers were cultivated on 1,500 hectares of land in the district this year.

Farmers in the district produced flowers of different varieties, including rose, gerbera, gladiolus, tuberose, marigold and others, eying sales especially for the two festivals.

Last year, farmers in the district incurred heavy losses due to fall in flower sale for small scale celebration of the festivals for political turmoil, he said.

However, this year both the weather and political situation are favorable and the farmers are most likely to get hefty profit from flower sales, he added.

Gerbera flower is accounted as a special gift for Valentine’s Day and farmers have cultivated this kind of flower in their land due to high demand, said Rahim.

Farmers said traders of different parts of the country, including Dhaka, gave them advance money for flowers and supplies will have to be delivered by today (Friday).

Ismail Hossain, a flower grower, said flowers worth Tk 200 crore are sold in the district every year while the farmers have sold flowers worth Tk8 crore this time ahead of the two festivals.

Besides, a target has been set to sell flowers worth another Tk 8 crore on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, he said.

In the last year, per stick gerbera was sold at Tk 10 while it is Tk 18 now.

Besides, the farmers are selling per piece rose at Tk 6-8 which was 3-5 in the previous year.