Tea production surges to 14.74m kg in September

Bangladesh’s tea production shot up to a record high 14.74 million kilograms (kg) in September this year.

Bangladesh’s tea production shot up to a record high 14.74 million kilograms (kg) in September this year.

This marked an increase of about 17% year-on-year, according to state-run Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB).

The previous record was of October 2021, when 14.58 million kgs were produced.

The BTB attributed it to favourable weather, distribution of subsidized fertilizer, regular monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce and BTB and efforts of garden owners and workers overcoming a labour strike in August.

Tea garden owners earlier had claimed that the strike would affect production and cause losses in business.

The tea workers went on a two-hour strike every day from August 9 demanding an increase in wages.

Afterwards, they embarked on an indefinite strike in gardens across the country from August 13.

Later, a meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and representatives of garden owners fixed the minimum daily wage of workers at Tk170.

Earlier it was Tk120.

Tea production has expanded in Bangladesh over the past decade.

About 96.51 million kgs were produced in 2021, up by some 54% from that in 2012, showed BTB data.

This is the highest amount produced in a year in the 167-year history of the region's commercial tea cultivation.

In the first nine months of this year, 63.83 million kgs were produced in the country's 167 gardens.

Local tea brands dominate the domestic market with a 75% share while non-branded producers account for the rest.

The 167 tea gardens in the country cover almost 280,000 acres of land.

Bangladesh is currently listed as the world's ninth largest tea producer, accounting for around 2% of the world's total production.

A total of 90 of the tea gardens are currently in Moulvibazar, which accounts for 55% of the tea produced in the country.

Habiganj is the second largest producer of tea, contributing 22%.