Two northern districts to come under tea plantation this year
Our Correspondent, Rangpur
The government is going to bring Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari under tea plantation to create job opportunities for the extreme poor in the monga (near famine situation)-prone northern districts.Inspired with the success in Panchagarh, also a northern district, Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) plans tea cultivation this year on 150 hectares of land in the two districts under the 'Small Holding Tea Cultivation' project. The BTB, which has already set up an office in Lalmonirhat, hopes the project will create job opportunities for at least 5,000 in the two districts in the next few years. Director (Production) of BTB Md Azharul Islam said, "The main purpose of the project is to alleviative poverty and increase tea production in the country." Response from farmers in Patgram upazila is encouraging, Islam said, adding that growers in Sadar upazila under Lalmonirhat are preparing land to cultivate tea. The BTB however is yet to get enough response from farmers in Nilphamari district, said Islam, adding, "Hopefully, adequate number of farmers will be motivated soon for tea farming through counselling." The government is offering subsidies and loan facilities to attract farmers to cultivate tea in the districts.
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