The magic of tea in North Bengal

It is good to see that many farmers in the northern region are now happy as they can see profit coming from cultivation of tea. A number of farmers in the district have reportedly opted to grow tea instead of traditional crops which did not bring much profit. A report by this daily narrates the story of one Imran Ali, a farmer, who started to grow tea on his 1.7 acres of land in 2005. The decision, he says, changed his life forever as he saw a profit of Tk 14 lakh last year. Encouraged by the returns, Ali has now brought 8.5 acres of land under tea production.

This is great news from a socioeconomic point of view as tea production in the district has benefited many small and marginal farmers like him who switched to tea from rice, wheat, sugarcane, jute and tobacco. The profit will definitely increase their buying capacity and help them become economically solvent. The added benefit of growing tea, as reported by the farmers, is that it does not cause harm to the land's fertility.

Beginning with 455 acres of land in 2002, Panchagarh has already gone ahead of Chattogram in terms of gross annual production of tea. It is now second only to Sylhet, and according to data from Bangladesh Tea Board, tea from Panchagarh accounted for about 15 percent of the country's record tea production of 96.5 million kilograms in 2021. Records also show that last year, tea was cultivated on 11,433.9 acres of land in nine registered and 21 unregistered gardens of the northern region, helped by its higher and more fertile grounds that allowed growers to pluck leaves after a year of planting saplings. The production capacity of the entire area will increase manifold if another 50,000 acres of land can be brought under the coverage.

It needs to be mentioned that the idea of starting tea production in Panchagarh was a bold one but it has paid off. Those pioneers who started it showed the path for the next generation of investors and growers. It is no mean feat that only within two decades, Panchagarh tea growers have outpaced those in Chattogram who have been in the trade for many more decades. We hope this will continue in the coming days to further boost our economy.