The Ministry of Agriculture is taking up a project titled "Establishment of a Flower Research Centre at Jhikargachha in Jashore District" as part of a government move to set up a large research centre for flower farming. The government will acquire 20 hectares of land and build a complete, up-to-date flower research centre at a cost of Tk 230 crore 80 lakh.

Several Planning Commission officials told Sarabangla that the project is going through the approval process, and a Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting has already been held.

Those involved hope the research centre will raise production of flowers and ornamental plants in the country by 20 per cent by 2024 and cut post-harvest losses of flower products by 15 per cent.

According to the agriculture ministry, Bangladesh's climate and soil are very suitable for flower farming. Flowers are now grown on about 12,000 hectares of land, and 50,000 farmers are involved. The livelihoods of about 10 lakh people depend directly or indirectly on the flower trade.

Flowers grown across large areas of Jashore meet about 70 per cent of the country's demand. Besides supplying the domestic market, they have gained recognition in the international market, and there is good potential to export flowers to Asia, the Middle East and Europe in future.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) told Kaler Kantho that despite various limitations it has developed 19 varieties of 10 flowers and 20 techniques covering cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants, flower harvesting technology, packaging and more.

Source: Online Desk. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.