No tea leaf-processing factory in Lalmonirhat

OUR CORRESPONDENT
LALMONIRHAT, Mar 23: Local tea farmers are getting frustrated over their produce as there is no modern tea leaf-processing factory in the district.
Farmers do not get fair price of tea leaves and often suffered a loss as they have to send tea leaves to Panchagarh for processing.
The cost of tea production has increased due to lack of a leaf-processing factory in the district. The Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) started tea farming in Lalmonirhat in 2007 as a pilot project.
Tea is one of the exporting items in Bangladesh. Its demand is increasing in the domestic and international markets. Lalmonirhat district is situated beside Coochbihar district of west Bengal of neighbouring India. Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri is only few kilometres from Patgram upazilla of Lalmonirhat.
The BTB successfully made a good number of tea gardens on Bangladesh boarder. Even they planted tea in zero line on international boarder.
Already they are commercially producing tea and marketing tea leaves from the garden. The tea board gives all support and training to some selected farmers to expand tea farming. As tea farming is a long-term project and at an initial stage farmers have to give many efforts in the garden.
Now farmers are cultivated tea on 260 acres of land though the target was 247 acres of land fixed by the tea board. Advocate Dulal of Hatibandha upazilla said he cultivated tea plants on 09 acres of land in Burimari under Patgramme upazila few years ago.
"Now I'm plucking tea leaves from his garden and sending it to Panchagarh for processing," he said.
He also said farmers don't get the fair price of tea leaves.
If a modern leaf-processing factory can be set up in the district, farmers will be more inspired for tea cultivation.
Nur Islam, a farmer of Dhahogram enclave, said he destroyed his tea garden due to the law price of tea leaves.
He said that at the beginning he got fair price but in recent years farmers did not get fair price.
"After cutting tea leaves we send to Panchagarh and Deboganj factory where authorities often reject our leaves, showing many reasons. So I destroyed his garden."
A women entrepreneur, Saida Begum, said once she worked with various international NGO. After retirement she cultivated tea on 04 acres of land in 2017. Later, she expanded her garden into 07 acres. She also demanded fair price of tea and establishment of a factory in Lalmonirhat.
Md Arif Khan, development officer of Lalmonirhat Tea Board office, said that the government took this initiative in 2007 to make tea garden in northern belt of Bangladesh, aiming to eradicate poverty through creating job opportunities in north Bengal. The soil and weather is very favourable for tea farming in this area.
"We successfully planted tea on 260 acres in five upazilas of the district. The BTB is providing all support for farmers to expand tea cultivation. A factory was set up in Hatibandha few years ago, but due to various reasons it has remained inoperative for a long time."
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