Govt plans tea gardening in CHT

A portion of 150-acre Waggyachhara Tea Garden, the lone tea garden in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, on the bank of river Karnaphuli near the Shitapahar Reserve Forest at Kaptai upazila in Rangamati district. The garden was set up decades ago and started commercial production with a factory and a sales centre in Kaptai. The authorities planned to bring the entire 880 acres of its land under tea cultivation gradually. PHOTO: Monirul Alam

The government is contemplating tea cultivation in three hill districts to usher in a new horizon of economic development in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

"Socio-economic development of the hill districts of Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati was neglected so long, although the CHT has many potentials for the economic growth. Commercial tea gardening may be a major option to that end and the investors can tap easily this opportunity and benefit immensely from it," said sources at tea trading and Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB).

To boost country's tea production and market, the government took a long-term project last year to start tea gardening in the three hill districts. The scheme will be in smaller scale initially, they said.

The government started the project on experimental basis in 2003. The government has earmarked around 7,000 hectares of land in the districts for the purpose and type of tea will be 'clone' only.

The interested farmers will get all necessary logistic supports including sufficient loan, fertiliser, saplings, extensive training and technical know-how, they said.

The loan disbursement procedure will be quick and hassle-free, and interest against the loan will also be low, sources said.

"We have conducted soil test in Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari and the land in the districts were tested positive for growing of good quality tea," said an official at BTB here.

Former Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury had inaugurated the project in Bandarban by planting 200 tea saplings.

Two thousand hectares of land at Sualok and Sultnapur in Bandarban Sadar Upazila were selected initially for tea cultivation. Mong Thuai Ching and Mahibullah own the lands. The government also had given them loan for raising tea.

Under the project, government would provide Tk 60 lakh as loan to 50 farmers in Bandarban. Of this, about Tk 40 lakh will be allocated to 31 interested farmers this year.

Some traders in Chittagong said that tea gardening was highly viable in the CHT. "Generally a sapling takes three to four years to grow and plucking of tea leaves can be started after that."

"The three hill districts in Chittagong have huge fellow lands and these can be exploited for tea gardening," they said.

Emphasis on tea gardening in hill districts was given considering their future development and it would surely have an impact on the overall socio-economic picture of the CHT. "Tea cultivation can bring revolutionary changes in the CHT, especially in the tourism sector and create employment opportunities for the tribal people," they said.