The month of February is highly profitable for florists in Dhaka with three big events – Pohela Falgun, Valentine’s Day, and Language Martyrs' Day. Last year alone, they made Tk50 crore in February selling flowers, said Babul Proshad, president of Dhaka Ful Bayabsayee Kallyan Somity Ltd. He told the Dhaka Tribune that they expected to sell about Tk70 crore during the three big events ending on February 21, the Language Martyrs' Day. “We earned Tk50 crore during these three big events last year. In the Shahbagh area alone, we sold Tk30 crore worth of flowers last February. This year, our target is Tk50 crore even though the supply of local flowers is less because of a virus attack and the cold wave.“We also have to import certain kinds of flowers that do not grow in our country, such as carnations, chrysanthemums, orchids and tulips, from India, China and Thailand.” He said with a little support from the government, the flower industry in Bangladesh would be able to start exporting soon. “If the government helps with the training and capacity building of flower farmers, we could earn crores in foreign exchange. We already export to the Middle East and earn about Tk1.5 crore every year,” Babul said. Florists are already saying that sales are higher than last year. According to Md Rubel Hossain, a florist in the Shahbagh area they have sold more flowers at the shop than they did last year.