Growers happy over price increase of green tea
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
RANGPUR, Apr 18 (BSS) :Small-scale and common tea growers of Panchagarh expressed their happiness as the concerned authorities today fulfilled their demand for increasing price of green tea leaves by Tk 2.50 per kg.
The tea growers thanked officials and experts of Panchagarh district administration, Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) and concerned tea companies for raising purchasing price of green tea leaves to Tk 18.50 from Taka 16 per kg of last season.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the conference room of Panchagarh Deputy Commissioner (DC) with DC Banamali Bhowmick in the chair.
Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) Dr Jiban Krishna Saha, Managing Director of Tentulia Tea Company Limited Mosarraf Hossain and Project Director of Karatoa Tea Factory ASM Shah Alam Bhuiyan were present.
Development Officer of Panchagarh Office of BTB Amir Hossain, tea growers Abdul Jabbar, Harunur Rashid Babu, Motiar Rahman, BTB officials and a large number of small-scale and common tea growers were present.
The meeting also formed a committee as per BTB directive with DC of Panchagarh as its Chairman to prepare a policy for fixing price of green tea leaves for every season with a view to ensuring fair price of green tea leaves to the farmers in the future.
Chief Scientific Officer of BTRI will work as the Member- Secretary of the committee and representatives of all tea- processing factories in Panchagarh and tea growers Abdul Jabbar, Harunur Rashid, Asif Hossain and Motiar Rahman as the members.
Talking to the news agency, small-scale tea growers Mozahedul Hassan, Abdur Rahman, Esahaq Ali Mandal and Motiar Rahman highly appreciated the decision and said that increase in price of green tea leaves would definitely enhance tea farming further in Panchagarh.
BTB official Amir Hossain said that 880 metric tonnes tea was produced in Panchagarh during the last season and the production is expected to cross 1,200 metric tonnes during the current season in the sub-Himalayan district.
DC Banamali Bhowmick said that as per direction of the then Prime Minister and also incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, tea farming officially began in Panchagarh from April 2 in 2000 and the sector has been growing at faster rate.