Hope for tea cultivation in plain land dimming

In late 2022, Shahjalal, a tea grower in Panchagarh for 15 years, had a fear for the collapse of the plain-land tea industry in the north, and a year later, his fear came true; he decided to uproot tea plants on seven acres of land as losses were piling up. 

Like Shahjalal, dreams of many plain-land tea growers in Panchagarh and adjacent areas have been shattered by a big mismatch between a rising production cost and falling selling price. A syndicate of tea companies was another big worry. 

Now, many of them are either destroying their tea gardens or thinking of selling their land to repay bank loans or running their families. 

"Farmers dream of profit with assurance of tea board officials. But they do not see any profit and eventually they are bound to cut their tea plants," Shahjalal told The Business Standard, adding that he started cultivating spice and mango instead of tea gardening. 

"What is the meaning of the tea growing industry in the plain land, if farmers cannot survive? Only the factories are earning crores of taka from this industry, while the government is getting huge revenues. But the farmers are still poor," the frustrated Shahjalal lamented.  

The tea growers said the quality of Panchagarh tea is excellent because of the area's proximity with India's Darjeeling that produces world famous tea, but they are getting only Tk8-Tk10 by selling per kg tea leaves against Tk20-Tk25 production cost.   

Besides, the factories deduct 30% to 50% of the leaf price per maund. There is also Tk4 labor cost per kg in tea farming coupled with rising price of fertiliser and pesticides, according to farmers. 

Tea cultivation in the plain land started in Panchagarh district in 2000. Tentulia Tea Company first started small-scale tea cultivation and later Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate joined it. 

The garden-level tea cultivation commenced in Thakurgaon and Lalmonirhat in 2007 and in Dinajpur and Nilphamari districts from 2014. 

There are nine registered and 21 unregistered large tea gardens (above 25 acres) in five northern districts. Some 8,335 small tea gardens (up to 25 acres) are also located there, of which 1,745 are registered. 

Photo: Khorshed Alam

A Tea Board survey finds tea cultivation potential on 40,000 acres of land in the region. 

According to the Tea Board's Panchagarh regional office, around 9.03 crore kg of green tea leaves were produced in five districts in 2022 with 18.95% contribution to national tea production. 

In 2021, 7.36 crore kg of tea leaves were produced in the five districts of Rangpur Division with 15% share in national production. 

Ready tea is made in the factory by picking tea leaves from the garden. Some 48 tea processing factories in plains have taken licences. These factories buy green tea leaves from farmers and make tea. The produced tea is sold in the auction market by the factory owners. 

The northern region is the second largest tea growing area after Sylhet region, but the tea farming, which has a history from late 60s after sugarcane farmers suffered a loss, has now become a thorn in their throats because of the alleged price manipulation by the factories.    

After failing to face the tough time, another farmer of Panchgarh Abzal Hossain had to destroy his garden with several units like Shahjalal in late October last year.  

The farmer told TBS, "I can't afford it due to the cost of labour, fertiliser and pesticide cost. Now, I will switch to another farming. I will eat nuts and vegetables,"

He alleged that if anyone protests against the syndicate they protest, they are black-listed and no leaves are taken from them or they are not allowed to sell tea leaves elsewhere. As a result, they have to discard their tea leaves. 

"We nurture tea plants like a child, but we've to uproot them now. I protested many times against the syndicate but with no results," he went on saying. 

In the same month, tea farmer Md Based also pulled off his 50 decimal garden beside Aziznagar Bismillah tea factory citing not getting fair price compared with production cost.

Standing next to the tea garden, farmer Mahmudul Islam said with a tearful voice, "We can't bear the misery anymore. Our backs are against the wall. Bank loans have increased." 

He said even if the price of tea leaves were Tk20 per kg, he would not have to sell most of his land. 

Photo: Khorshed Alam

Echoing these farmers, Azharul Haque, a farmer in Tentulia with 20-acre tea garden who quit his job in a foreign private company, said small farmers are uprooting gardens. 

"If the price of the leaves does not rise, the big growers may uproot everything next year. Many are suffering loss. In the meantime, many farmers have arrears in fertiliser, pesticide shops. What will happen to them?" he further said.  

Similarly, farmer Shahinur Islam and Md Manik Uddin, an engineer who left his private job in Dhaka, suffered the same fate. 

Manager of Kanchjungha Tea Estate Faisal Hossain told TBS, "Not only small farmers but also big farmers are facing problems. Farmers have nothing to do. Everyone is looking forward to the new year for a turnaround." 

Even the tea board has lost hope about the future of the tea cultivation in the plain land.

Panchagarh regional office development officer of Bangladesh Tea Board Amir Hossain said, "Tea production is more than the demand in the country. People are also consuming less tea due to economic pressure. Earlier most of the tea was imported. For this reason, the government did not pay much attention to this sector." 

Panchagarh tea is failing to stay in the competitive market because of the sudden oversupply. As a result, prices have fallen causing immense sufferings to the farmers, even forcing some to cut tea gardens, he acknowledged.