Bangladesh produces 9.38 cr kg tea in 2022

Staff Correspondent: In the outgoing year 2022, tea production in the country was 9 crore 38 lakh kgs. Compared to 2021, the production has decreased by 26 lakh 77 thousand kgs. Although the target of 10 crore kgs tea production in 2022 has been set, the tea plantations have failed to achieve the target due to various obstacles including hostile weather and labor strikes.
In this regard, according to the sources of Bangladesh Tea Board, in 2021, 9 crore 65 lakh 6 thousand kgs of tea was produced in 168 gardens of the country. The production target for that year was 7 crore 77 lakh 80 thousand kgs. That is, 1 crore 87 lakh 26 thousand kgs was produced more than the target. In 2020, the country produced 1 crore 4 lakh 54 thousand kgs more than the target. The amount of production was 8 crore 63 lakh 94 thousand kgs of tea.
The domestic tea garden owners could not produce tea as per the target for the first time after a long time due to adverse weather conditions. This information is known from the latest production report of the Tea Board till December.
The production of tea in the country has been increasing continuously for a decade. As the production of tea is more than the target every year, the production target of tea in 2022 has been increased by a leap to 2 crore 22 lakh 20 thousand kgs.
Earlier, the tea board had fixed the growth target of tea production at the rate of 2-2.5 percent every year. A landmark target of 100 million kgs of tea production annually was set as production exceeded expectations for several years. But insufficient monsoon rains, weeks of labor strikes during the peak season have prevented the record tea production target from being achieved, say industry stakeholders.
They said that the growth of tea production in the country has been disrupted in the current season mainly due to the strike over the wage issue of tea workers. A 20-day strike in the middle of the year reduced the country’s tea production. July and August production is the most affected. The production fell to 1 crore 12 lakh 67 thousand kgs in July and 1 crore 7 lakh 62 thousand kgs in August, which is much lower than the same period of the previous year.
Although a record 1 crore 47 lakh 40 thousand kgs of tea was produced in September. However, due to the strike in October, the gardens again faced obstacles. In that month, compared to the same period of 2021, the production was 32 lakh 1 thousand kgs less.
According to sources related to the sector, the production of tea in the country is highest from June to October. Usage started to increase from October. In recent years, the consumption of tea in the country has exceeded nine and a half million kg.
They said that since the production is lower than the domestic consumption, there is a possibility of price increase and import increase.