Tea production dips due to adverse weather

News Desk :
The government has been striving to increase tea production in the country for a long time. The production goal has been set at 100 million kg in order to increase exports. However, due to low rainfall at the end of the current season, the country will fall short of this target.
The Bangladesh Tea Board is doubtful of reaching the target as tea production was 4.1 million kg lower in September and October, compared to the same period last year. Traders in the country’s international auction hubs in Chittagong and Srimangal have been forced to pay a higher price for tea this year due to short supply.
A total of 75.2 million kg of tea was produced in the country’s 168 tea estates until October. Tea production was 79.3 million kg in the same month the previous year. Traders fear that the downward growth in tea production will disrupt the annual production target.
When asked, senior officials from the tea board’s production and planning department said that the government intends to increase tea production and increase exports. As a result, efforts are being made to maintain the tea production target of 10 crore kg by 2025. Even after the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s tea production continued. However, due to the current season’s inadequate rainfall, tea production at the end of the year has decreased. As a result, there will be 10 million kg less tea this year in the gardens.
Meanwhile, Md Iqbal Hossain, the tea division head at Magnolia Group, said that favourable weather is extremely important for tea production. The tea estates have taken various initiatives to increase production with the tea board’s guidance and support, but with the recent labour unrest and inadequate rainfall, production has declined compared to earlier.
However, he said that the tea estates have been working hard in the last two months to increase tea production.
The most recent auction reports also reflected a decline in production. On November 28, some 3.57 million kg of tea was put on auction during the 30th international auction of the season. The 31st auction, which will be held next week, will release 3.59 million kg of tea for sale, which is about 100,000 kg less than the previous year’s auction. The tea estates supplied less tea than the previous year in the 28th and 29th auctions as well.
Earlier, the country’s tea production target for 2020 was 75.9 million kg. Tea production that year was 86.3 million kg. In 2021, the target was 77.8 million kg. The country’s tea estates produced 96.5 million kg of tea that year. However, due to inadequate rains in recent months and a few weeks of production halt due to labour unrest in the middle of the year, sector insiders believe that the target must be reduced.