Tea was once one of the principal cash crops of the country and students used to write essays on tea in the language courses of schools. But now, that does not happen, as instead of being a major export commodity, tea is imported in huge quantities by spending valuable foreign exchange. In fact, the imports are now four-times higher than the export volume.
Tea cultivation in Bangladesh started in 1854 at Malnichhara tea garden of Sylhet. But its commercial cultivation started in 1857. Labourers from Southern India were brought in to the Sylhet region for facilitating tea cultivation by the British entrepreneurs. According to figures obtained from 'Bangladesh Cha Sangsad', there are now a total of 163 tea-gardens belonging to 'A', 'B' and 'C' categories. Of these, the largest segment of 90 tea-estates is located at Moulvibazar district. Besides, there are 20 tea-estates each in Sylhet and Habiganj, 22 in Chittagong, 9 in Panchagarh, and 1 each in Brahmanbaria and Rangamati.
'Bangladesh Tea Board' (BTB), a statutory government body under the Ministry of Commerce that oversees the tea sector in the country, however, claims that the total number of tea-estates is 172; in addition, there are 357 small growers/holders. These producers have devoted an area of 116,264 hectares for tea plantation, out of which 56,846 hectares have been brought under tea cultivation by 2011. According to BTB, greater Sylhet has 133 tea estates; in addition, there are 23 tea-estates in Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts (known as Halda valley) and 16 estates in the Panchagarh district. The private owners own 97.54 percent of tea-growing area in Bangladesh, while BTB owns the remaining 2.46 per cent of land.
The sector provides direct employment to 120 thousand workers, half of whom are women. Due to increased tea drinking habit, population growth and rapid urbanisation, domestic consumption of tea has been increasing at the rate of 4.10 per cent per annum, but exports have been declining at a rate of 8.92 per cent per annum due to a reduction in exportable surplus over a period of 10 years between 2002 and 2011. Annual per hectare productivity of tea in Bangladesh is only 1079 kilograms, which is very low compared to 1668 kilograms in India, 2321 kilograms in Kenya and 1763 kilograms in Sri Lanka (ITC, 2011: pp. 42, 47).
Tea is being produced at present in 35 countries and 3 billion cups of tea are being consumed each day all over the world. The global export of tea rose at the rate of 2.86 per cent between 1995 and 2010, and this trend is being maintained till now.
PRESENT STATUS OF BANGLADESH TEA INDUSTRY: According to the 'Bangladesh Cha Sangsad', the apex body of tea-garden owners, the people of Bangladesh drank 64 million kilograms of tea during 2013, which is 10 million kilograms higher than what was consumed in 2009. The country produced 1.4 per cent of global tea output and contributed 0.10 per cent to global tea exports in 2010.
Leaders of 'Cha Sangsad' complain that the sector is facing difficulties due to some defective policies. Although other tea-producing countries have discouraged imports, Bangladesh has been walking in the opposite direction. Tea can be imported in this country by paying a duty of 84 per cent, whereas this rate is 110 per cent and 130 per cent respectively in India and Sri Lanka. The tea leaders allege that low-quality imported tea is now flooding the market and local producers are suffering as a result.
It is gathered that the government is mulling enhancement of duties on tea imports and imposition of mandatory quality control of imported tea by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI).
DECLINE IN EXPORTS: Official data over a period of 23 years between 1990 and 2013 show that tea exports have declined continuously over this period. Whereas Tk 1565.7 million was earned by exporting tea in 1990, the figure came down to Tk 130.3 million in 2013.
According to data obtained from Bangladesh Tea Board, 26.95 million kilograms of tea were exported in 1990. The quantity came down to only 540 thousand kilograms in 2013. During the 1990s, the position of Bangladesh among the tea exporting countries of the world was 5th. Now, it has no mentionable ranking.
Tea export over a period of five years between 2009 and 2014 was 7.57 million kilograms. In 2009, Bangladesh earned Tk 433.5 million by exporting 3.15 million kilograms of tea. The figures came down to Tk 176.6 million and 910 thousand kilograms in 2010, Tk 213.5 million and 1.47 million kilograms in 2011, Tk 222.2 million and 1.5 million kilograms in 2012, and Tk 133 million and 540 thousand kilograms in 2013.
According to 'Cha Sangsad', as against 7.57 million kilograms of tea exported between 2009 and 2013, 28.7 million kilograms of tea were imported during the period.
According to a senior official of BTB, a section of importers took advantage of the situation due to reduction of duties on tea imports. Import duty should be kept at least at the level of India to discourage imports, he said. The NBR had imposed a regulatory duty of 20 per cent on tea imports in 2011. But tea imports surged after it was withdrawn before the passage of budget for 2013-14 fiscal year.
A recent report of Bangladesh Tea Board says, Tk 1505.8 million in foreign currency was spent on importing 12.87 million kilograms of tea between July 2013 and April 2014, but the losses incurred by tea producers and the government exchequer on account of this import stood at Tk 6067.2 million.
FUTURE SCENARIO: Although Bangladesh's share in global exports of tea was previously 1.0 per cent, it now accounts for only 0.10 per cent of world exports. If Bangladesh is to regain this share of 1.0 per cent by 2025, the country should produce 23.09 million kilograms of tea by 2025. For producing this extra volume, the tea growers will need to bring 12,973 hectares of land under tea cultivation, which, in turn, would require an additional investment of Tk 3891.9 million (at the rate of Tk 300 thousand per hectare). In addition, Tk 3580.55 million would be required for processing green leaf. Therefore, total investments worth Tk 7472.4 million would be required by the sector for its expansion during the next ten years in order to reclaim the 1.0 per cent share of global tea exports. As there is not much surplus land in the large tea estates for producing additional exportable tea, new avenues for small-holding tea cultivation should be explored and promoted without further delay. The issue of enhancing productivity in the tea sector also merits serious attention by the policy-makers and entrepreneurs alike.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a senior civil servant and former editor of Bangladesh Quarterly. hahmed1960@gmail.com
Tea in trouble: The issue of enhancing productivity
Helal Uddin Ahmed | Published: March 28, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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