The picture shows a tea garden in Bangladesh. Tea farming in the country
has peaked in Panchagarh, leading the sector to boom.
Tea cultivation in the country has peaked in Panchagarh, leading the sector to further bloom and creating employment for thousands, especially women, across the district.
Panchagarh is now recognised as the third largest tea estate in the country after Sylhet and Chittagong. It produced 5,37,000 kilograms of tea last fiscal year.
In addition, the entry of Kazi and Kazi Tea Estates (KKTE) organic tea into the global market created opportunities for them.
According to the Panchagarh Tea Board officials, there are about 19 tea estates in Panchagarh.
There are about 16,000 hectares of land in the district, which is suitable for tea cultivation. The Tentulia Tea Company Ltd (TTCL), Karotoa Tea Garden, Karotoa Tea Associates Ltd (KTAL) and KKTE have set up tea gardens in Panchagarh.
About three tea-processing units collect tealeaves from growers in the district.
However, several setbacks, including low prices offered for the leaves and high tariffs on inputs, are hindering the entry of new tea growers in the sector. Farmers said tea growers are selling leaves at Tk 12 per kilogram.
Md Motiar Rahman, a tea grower in Bhitargarh village under Panchagarh, said at least Tk 30,000 is required to cultivate tea on an acre of land. Input prices shot up in the last two years. Rahman urged the government to extend loan facilities to the small-scale tea growers.
"I am selling tea leaves at Tk 12 per kilogram to the tea processing factory and earning almost no profit because of the low price," he told The Daily Star.
Chairman of Sallylun Tea Estate Md Reza Humayun Faruque (Shamim) said they have tea gardens over 140 acres in Bhitargarh and Shukhdevpur, under Tetulia Upazila of Panchagarh. He said they sold Tk 4 lakh tea leaves at a rate of Tk 12 per kg.
He observed that small and large-scale tea growers are struggling with the present rate of Tk 12 a kilogram. He suggested the government raise the rate to Tk 16 per kg in addition to interest-free loans for tea growers.
Local tea growers, chamber leaders and officials said more tea processing industries should be set up, competitive markets established, and problems associated with the gas supply and power crisis need to be eliminated to boost the tea sector.
The neglected areas in Panchagarh house thousands of families that are involved with growing tea. Growth of the sector has been boosting the economic condition of the area since 2000.
According to locals, the tea gardens created employment for hundreds of women in the locality and made them self-reliant.
Over 7,000 skilled and unskilled workers, mostly women, work in the gardens scattered over 2,200 acres of land in Tentulia and its surrounding areas.
Monday, April 13, 2009
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