Bangladesh Tea Board on Wednesday has stated that in 2021, 96.5 million kg of tea was produced from 16 tea gardens and small-scale tea gardens in the country. Tea production is 10.11 million kg more than from 2020. Plain tea gardens and small-scale tea cultivation in the northern region alone added 14.54 million kg of tea to the national production which is a record, up from 10.30 million in 2020. Bangladesh in 2019 posted a record high tea production of 9.607 kg from 167 small-and-large tea estates.
This has been the highest annual tea production in it’s 167-year-old history. Incentives from the government, regular counseling and monitoring, strong efforts from garden owners and workers, timely distribution of fertilizers, were key factors towards record production.
Bangladesh Tea Board Chairman Major Gen Ashraful Islam said, ‘Hands-on training of tea cultivators in the northern region through “Camellia Khola Akash School” and provision of modern technology has resulted in 41% more tea production in plain and small tea estates last year than in 2020.’
Shah Alam, president of the Bangladesh Tea Association said to a national daily, ‘The country’s tea estates are going through renovation works for the last few years. Old saplings are being replaced with new saplings. The country’s tea estates are now more advanced in tea production than at any time in the past.’ He also added, ‘Gardeners have also increased the scope of tea cultivation by making new investments. If the trend of increasing production continues, then there will be no need to import tea on a large scale.’
Commercial tea production in the region began in 1854 with the Malnicherra Tea Estate in Sylhet. The industry now has expanded in the Northern region including Chattogram, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhaat and Panchagar. The industry has matured very much since then and the government plans to aim production levels to reach 14 crore kg annually by the year 2025.
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