They said the production cost of the export item might go up due to withdrawal of subsidy in fertiliser price.

Tea crop needs much more urea than other chemical fertiliser, a scientist said.

Urea is a must for upper canopy of tea plants. Normally, fertiliser should be applied to foot of tea plants twice a year, once in April-May and again in July-August.

The tea gardens need about 15,000 tons of fertiliser a year. As in normal practice, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) supplies fertiliser through Bangladesh Tea Board according to demand of tea gardens.

Sources informed, at first fertiliser is suppled in the first half of May and then in the first half of July every year. This year the total supply of fertiliser stands at over 5,000 tonnes, said an official in Tea Board.

A top scientist of the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI), requesting anonymity said, a good number of tea gardens could not apply feritiliser on time as they had no buffer stock of it at the beginning of the season this year.

Delayed supply of fertiliser was the reason behind this. Besides, it takes sometime for allotment and transportation by the garden authorities. A few tea garden authorities feel if fertiliser supply is not made within two weeks for second term, the production will be hampered badly this year. It will happen because of delayed application of fertiliser, they said.

During this year's first allotment, fertiliser price was Tk 4800 per tonne but it went up to Tk 9,000 during second allotment, said an official in the Tea Board.

When contacted, manager of Somonbhag tea garden in Barlekha upazila Md Shahjahan Akand said, the second application of fertiliser is very important for the crop. If tea planters fail to use fertiliser within a week or two, they might incur a big loss..

Besides, there had been excessive rains for the last few weeks. Tea plants did not get necessary sunlight resulting in harm to photosynthesis.

On the other hand, there had been fall in temperature also, keeping a bad effect on the crop, added Shahjahan, also chairman of the Juri circle of Bangladesh Tea Association. Failure in application of fertiliser for second time during July-August might cause outbreak of diseases and pest attack on tea plants, the senior official have apprehended.

Noman Haider Chowdhury, general manager (GM) of Khadim Tea Estate here said, tea is considered to be a very sensitive crop which needs both rainfall and sunshine.

Noman, also Circle chairman of Bangladesh Tea Association, North Sylhet valley, said, the gardens in North Sylhet region lacks behind production by 20 per cent last year. We suffered at the beginning of the season as there had been delayed rains in MarchApril. Still, we are suffering from excessive rains coupled with fertiliser crisis, Chowdhury said.

Tea production might fall short of target this year, he apprehended. 'We could not apply urea on time at the very beginning of cultivation in March-April while the time of its second application is also passing fast. Supply of Urea should be ensured within a week, otherwise, he said we shall have to suffer much. This is because of excessive rainfall during the last few weeks. It will be a tough task to achieve the national target this year, Chowdhury apprehended.

Tea is an important cash crop and one of the largest agro- based industries in the country. There are 164 tea estates including four small holdings having a total production of about 55 to 60 million KGs. Roughly two-third of tea is consumed at home, while the rest is exported abroad from which Bangladesh earns huge foreign exchange.