Breakthrough in commercial orchid cultivation

An orchid plant with flowers at KHC, snapped on Thursday. PHOTO: STAR

This will also save a huge amount of foreign exchange now spent for import of orchid saplings every year.

Kewatkhali Horticulture Centre (KHC) under the government's Integrated Horticulture and Nutrition Development Project (IHNDP) has started commercial production of orchid saplings after research for more than a year. A large number of orchid saplings are ready at the centre to enter the market.

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The project is run by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).

It is a remarkable achievement as saplings produced there can be exported after meeting local demand within five years, KHC Assistant Horticulturist Abu Md Enayet Ullah told this correspondent recently.

KHC took up the orchid project in 2003, considering that the country's weather is suitable for commercial orchid production.

It started research on four varieties of orchid --Dendrobium Pinky, Dendrobium Vietnam, Vanda and Phalaenopsis, he said.

There are some 40 farms in the country which now import over five lakh orchid saplings every year. A sapling imported from Thailand costs between Tk 25 and Tk 40, depending on the variety.

Orchid cultivation is very profitable as a plant is sold for Tk 500 to Tk 1400 during flowering stage, said Enayet Ullah. Such plants need about eight months to grow.

"We worked with experts from Vietnam at our (KHC) laboratory and our research has become successful", he said. Now there are several thousand orchid saplings at KHC, ready for sale at Tk 5 only, he added.

To expand its cultivation we will supply saplings free of cost to farms in Dhaka who now import those.

The KHC has also attained success in experimental cultivation of multi-coloured and very attractive Gladiolus flower, collected from India and other flowers procured from some other countries for their commercial cultivation in the country. All these have good export potential.

The KHC is working on five varieties of Gladiolus flower to produce seeds. The KHC sources said they hope to produce 6000 saplings from 400 roots of Gladiolus this season.

It's cultivation is more profitable than our traditional flowers. Some 5000 Gladiolus saplings can be planted on 10 decimal land and every pant grows one flower. A farmer can earn at least Tk 10,000 from the small land in 70 to 80 days, said Enayet Ullah.

A Gladiolus flower is sold at k 20-25 at flower shops in Dhaka and other cities, he said.

Meanwhile, KHC has trained 60 officials from 19 districts and 90 farmers of Mymensingh on floriculture. Besides orchid, the framers were also trained on cultivation of various flowers including rajanigandha, rose, chandramollica and marigold. This encouraged the farmers and many of them are now maintaining regular contact with KHC, sources said.

Flower cultivation can be an industry in Bangladesh like in India and Thailand if farmers can be made interested, he said.