Rose brings prosperity to Cox’s Bazar farmers

A mere hobby of a zaminder (landowner) named Babu Shree Natun Chandra De in the 1800s (1890-1900) led the commercial cultivation of rose in Boroitoli, Cox’s Bazar.

According to locals, Natun Chandra eatablished a rose garden in the backyard of his house around 1890.

He collected distinctive and rare varieties of rose from Kolkata and Dhaka and started growing the flower in his garden. Not only he, but another rose enthusiast, Maruf Rabban Kaderi followed the legacy of Natun Chandra and established a distinguished rose garden in his house, famously known as Deputy Bari in the twentieth century.

Following their footsteps, at least 15,000 people of Boroitoli, Cox’s Bazar are currently involved in the commercial cultivation of rose in around 500 gardens and earning an amount of Tk 20 crore per year, said Chakaria Golap Bagan Samity President Moinul Khokon.

The demand for roses is always high in Cox’s Bazar as it is the biggest hub of tourism in the country, local traders said.

In contrast to that, the increasing number of rose gardens in the area and promising yield from a less capital is making rose cultivation, the most sought after business in the region.

According to the graden owners, on special occasions-- such as Valentines Day (February, 14), International Mother Language Day (February, 21), Victory Day (December, 16), Pohela Baishakh (April, 14), and in the New Year’s Eve (December, 31)-- their flowers have the most demand and highest sales. On these occasions they get orders from all over the country and export their flowers to various districts.

“We don’t have any fixed price ranges for roses, it changes in accordance to their demand. We sell 1oo pieces of roses for Tk 100 on special occasions and the same amount is sold for Tk 60 to Tk80 all the year round,” said Sarwar Alam, a rose farmer.

Talking to The Business Post, he said, although he and other farmers in the region sell these flowers on low price, the traders and brokers sell the same flowers on much higher prices, sometimes even eight or ten times more than the original price.

Visiting the rose gardens of Cox’s Bazar’s Boroitoli area, farmers, their families and farmhands were seen busy plucking, nurturing, and packaging colorfull roses for sale.

Moinul Islam, a garden owner of Boroitoli area, who is involved in rose cultivation for the last two decades, said: “The roses we produce meet the demand of the entire Chittagong district. On a busy day, we sell flowers worth lakhs in different districts of the country.”

Ariful Islam, a farmhand of the rose garden, told The Business Post that he is involved in this business for more than ten years. The farmers here also cultivate gladiolus and tuberose beside rose.

“I work at a daily basis. I used to earn Tk 150 per day four years back but now I earn Tk 300 per day,” said Ariful while plucking and tying roses for sale.

Ariful said more than 5,000 people are working at different rose gardens in the district. Ashish Kumar, Assistant Agriculture Officer of Cox’s Bazar DAE, said rose flowers are symbols of love, beauty and war. This flower is more than 35 million years old and mankind has been growing them for more than 5,000 years.

“Therefore the demand for roses will never be less. Also it requires less capital providing a huge yield and profit in return, which makes it popular among growers,” he said.

“Rose farming is not only benefitting the farmers but also it is contributing to the overall economy of the country. We inspecting the rose gardens regularly and offering assistance to the farmers,” the agriculture officer added.