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Tea brings cheers for planters

Production exceeds target


Published : 28 Jan 2021 09:49 PM | Updated : 30 Jan 2021 06:11 AM

Braving the Covid-19 pandemic, tea planters have exceeded the tea production target this year as they are expanding plantation of this aromatic beverage because it fetches lucrative price.

In 2020, a total of 86,394,000 kgs of tea had been produced from 167 tea gardens in Bangladesh.

However, a record quantity of 10,300,000 kgs of tea have been added to the national production from tea gardens on the plain and small-scale tea gardens in North Bengal alone.

According to the Tea Board, target for tea production in the country was set at 75,940,000 kg last year. But 86,394,000 kgs of tea had been produced in 2020 by merging 167 small and big tea gardens.

Earlier, in 2019, Bangladesh produced a record quantity of tea in the history of tea plantation by producing 96,069,000 kgs.

Of the 167 tea gardens in the country, 135 are located in the Sylhet division, of which 19 are located in Srimangal, known as the teahub. Record quantity of tea has been produced there too.

Chairman of Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) Major General Md Jahirul Islam told Bangladesh Post that overall activities of all the tea gardens in the country were normal despite Covid-19situation.

In addition to production, tea farming remained normal for maintaining tea auction in compliance with health directives, timely distribution of fertilizers, ensuring coveted protocols in tea gardens and increasing wages of tea workers, ensuring rations and health services.

“Practical training of planters through Camellia Open Sky School on tea plantation and providing modern technologies helped achieve a record output from tea gardens and small tea gardens on the plain in the northern districts,” he added.

Talking to Bangladesh Post, Senior Scientific Officer at Bangladesh Tea Research Institute Dr Mohammad Shameem Al Mamun said tea farming began in the north as per direction given by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to Panchagarh in 1996.

He added that hand-to-hand training on tea cultivation in North Bengal through the ‘Camellia Khola Akash School’ and the provision of modern technology have made it possible to produce a record amount of tea this year from flat tea gardens and small tea gardens. 

It is learnt that, due to unfavourable weather, tea production also decreased by 10 percent in 2020. As a result, despite the lower production than 2019, the demand and supply of tea in the market was balanced.

However, there are a total of 167 tea gardens in Bangladesh. Of these, there are 92 tea gardens in Moulvibazar district alone. The tea gardens of Moulvibazar play an important role in the production of tea in the country.

Tea production depends more or less on the weather. In 2019, Bangladesh produced a record amount of tea in the history of tea cultivation. Production was 96.07 million kg. And in 2020 tea production was 86,394,000 kgs. However, even though the production is low, the target has been exceeded.