No initiative to make perfume, 3 million roses wasted in one union

Baraitali Union of Chakaria Upazila is 75 kilometers away from Cox's Bazar city. More than two hundred farmer families earn a living by cultivating roses on 105 acres of land in some villages of this union. Although roses are sold at fair prices on certain days, most farmers sell flowers at a loss throughout the year. More than 3 million roses are destroyed on the trees every year due to lack of buyers. There are 103 rose gardens in Baraitali. Agricultural experts said that once roses were known only as winter flowers. However, now they are cultivated throughout the year. In Bangladesh, Mirandi, Papa Meland, Double Delight, Taj Mahal, Paradise, Blue-Moon, Montezuma, Tata Center, City of Belfast varieties of roses are cultivated. Various types of perfumes, cosmetics, rose water, and various food ingredients are made from rose petals abroad. Such perfumes are being produced in various countries of the world including France, Turkey, India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. However, special varieties are selected for this and farmers are also trained. But even though roses have been cultivated in Chakaria for three decades, no such initiative has been taken by the government or the private sector. Farmers in Baraitali, Chakaria said that millions of rose trees are being destroyed every year due to lack of flower preservation facilities. If an initiative was taken to produce perfumes from roses, it would have been possible to earn foreign currency by exporting them abroad to meet the country's demand, and it would have created employment opportunities. Educated unemployed youth would have been encouraged to cultivate roses.

In the last week of February, a visit to some gardens in Uparpara, Namarpara, Khayratipara, Notun Rasat Matha and Maijpara of Baraitali Union showed that thousands of roses were blooming in each garden, but there was not much sales. Although 60 percent of the flowers were cut from the trees and supplied to flower shops in the Cheragi Pahar area of ​​Chittagong city, the remaining flowers were being destroyed on the trees. Farmers said that on February 14, on Valentine's Day, they expected to sell 1.3 million roses from 103 gardens in Baraitali. But only about three lakh were sold. The remaining flowers were destroyed on the trees. Even though 1 million feet were cut for sale on February 21, not even half were sold. Local farmer Idris Ahmed has been cultivating roses for 23 years on six kani of land on the eastern side of the Boritali section of the Cox's Bazar-Chittagong highway. There are about 24,000 trees in the garden. Each tree blooms with two to four roses. Idris Ahmed told Prothom Alo that last year, more than seven lakh flowers were destroyed in his garden. If these flowers could be used to make perfumes, including rose water, they would have earned lakhs of taka every year. But there is no lab or factory to collect the flower juice. However, as a hobby, some people extract the extract from rose petals and use it to produce rose water and perfumes using the traditional method. But it is not possible for farmers to preserve millions of roses and make perfumes. This requires training. Mainul Islam, general secretary of the Baraitali Rose Garden Owners' Association, a rose growers' organization, said that if Bangladesh also took the initiative to make perfume using flower essences, it would have made a big contribution to the economy. Farmers would have been saved from the dominance of paper flowers that occupied the market. Due to the lack of opportunities to make perfumes, 30-35 lakh roses are wasted on the trees in one union of Baraitali every year.About 3 million roses are wasted every year in the gardens of Baraitali. Farmers are counting losses due to the lack of initiatives to make perfumesAbout 3 million roses are wasted every year in the gardens of Baraitali. Farmers are counting losses due to the lack of initiatives to make perfumesProthom Alo Golam Rahman (60), a senior farmer of Baraitali, said that if you cut fresh roses from the garden in the morning, sort the petals and put them in water, the oily substance floats in the form of foam. If you collect the foam with cotton and store it in a glass bottle, you get a perfume-like fragrance. Again, if you extract the rose essence and mix coconut oil with it, you get a fragrance. But due to lack of scientific equipment and technology, farmers are unable to produce perfumes.Garden owners said that the rose market has been dominated by paper flowers and Chinese roses for several years. Roses are spoiled after being used once. But paper flowers or Chinese roses can be used four to five times. Paper flowers are now being used in homes, from weddings, social events, to decorating political party stages. Apart from that, roses have to be cut off when they bloom on the tree. Mature roses cannot be kept for more than a day.Asked about making perfumes from roses, Chakaria Upazila Agriculture Officer SM Nasim Hossain told Prothom Alo that some perfumes are made from roses or flower extracts. There are many such factories abroad. He does not know whether perfumes are made in this way anywhere in Bangladesh. If a lab or factory for making perfumes from various flower extracts, including roses, were set up in Cox's Bazar or Chittagong by private initiatives, rose farmers would benefit.Deputy Director of the Horticulture Center of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Cox's Bazar, Md. Qutubuddin told Prothom Alo that expensive perfumes are made using rose flower extract in various countries including Saudi Arabia and France. But he is not aware of any such initiative in Bangladesh. If such an initiative was taken, rose farmers would have benefited