WITH help from the Bangladesh Tea Board, 82 farmers in the Lalmonirhat district of Rangpur division are farming tea on 121 acres of plain land with great success. Since 2015, tea farmers in the area began to expand cultivation. An average of 1,500 kilogrammes (kgs) of green tea leaves is now produced on each acre of plain land every month in the district. Last year at least 10.30 million kilogrammes (kgs) of tea worth Tk 175 crore was produced in five northern districts. The rapidly expanding tea cultivation has created jobs for more than 25,000 rural people, including 15,000 women.
However the only tea processing factory in Lalmonirhat’s Hatibandha remains closed due to power outages, forcing local farmers to sell their produce about 150 kilometres away in Panchagarh. The Tea Board has ensured transport support for which farmers have to pay the fuel cost and driver hire charge. The tea board is surprised by the unexpected amount of tea produced on the plain land of Lalmonirhat, as the soil is very suitable for tea cultivation. The board is providing free assistance by supplying agricultural tools including shallow pumps to the farmers who are interested in tea cultivation. They are also provided with free fertiliser and pesticides. Farmers are regularly advised and guided on proper care of tea gardens.
Experts call for adopting scientific methods, agronomic management and the use of latest technologies for tea cultivation on plain lands to further boost production. Tea cultivation has been changing the landscape of the untapped area, eventually changing the economy of the once poverty-prone districts. The government should take initiatives like setting up agricultural goods processing plants, small and medium enterprises to boost the economy of the northern districts. Without freeing people from the poverty cycle, inclusive development would not be possible. We welcome the Tea Board for its groundbreaking steps and other government agencies to come up for integrated development of the area and its people.
