Small tea farms in north seek subsidised fertiliser

FE Report
Nearly 8,500 small-scale tea garden owners in the country's north have requested subsidised fertilisers from the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) dealers to ensure uninterrupted production.
The Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) recently wrote to the commerce ministry requesting the allocation of fertilisers from the agriculture ministry.
"The government is considering providing subsidised fertilisers to small-scale tea gardens," said a high official at the commerce ministry. "We are working on the issue and will write to the agriculture ministry regarding the matter."
Excluding large-scale registered tea gardens, there are currently 8,391 small-scale tea producers in the north. They cultivate tea on 10,380.80 acres of land.
Individual small-scale farmers in the region hold land between 0.33 acres to 25 acres, according to the board.
The board says allocating chemical fertilisers for such small landholdings would not be economically viable due to high transportation costs for such small quantities from distant locations.
In discussions with smallholder tea farmers in the north, it would be more efficient if the chairman of the District Fertiliser and Seed Monitoring Committee allocated the total usable fertiliser for the entire tea plantation area annually to the relevant deputy commissioners, the tea board letter reads.
This would allow farmers to purchase fertilisers easily from dealers and apply them to their plantations if the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) offered a fair commission to fertiliser dealers, similar to other crops, according to the tea board.
The option of lifting fertilisers from Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) buffer warehouses was also mentioned in the letter.
The tea sector is a prioritised industry under the National Industrial Policy 2016.
Bangladesh produced around 102.93 million kilograms of tea in 2023. The country exported 1.08 million tonnes of tea in the same year.
The sector enjoys a 3.0 per cent cash incentive for tea exports. There are 168 tea gardens across the country.
Local tea consumption was estimated at 105.46 million kilos in 2021 and 111 million kilos in 2022, according to the board.
The government has set a target to increase tea production to 140 million kg by 2025 to meet the country's growing demand and increase exports.
The commerce ministry looks to revive the country's lost tea export tradition by shipping an additional 10.57 million kg of tea.
[email protected]