Bangladesh has come a long way in tea production. A new record has been set in the tea industry, surpassing all previous tea production records which is by far the richest of the most produced teas. Despite the unexpected blow of Covid-19 in 2020, Bangladesh has not plunged into despair in tea production.
Recently, on January 19, Bangladesh Tea Board published its annual report on tea production in 2021. It mentioned that in 2021, the country has produced 96.508 million (9 crore 65 lakh) kg of tea annually from 167 tea gardens and small scale tea gardens. This is the highest record of all time in the 168-year history of 'tea' in Bangladesh.
In 2020, the country produced 86.394 million (8 crore 63 lakh)kg of tea. Which is 1 crore 1 lakh 11 thousand kg more than the production of 2021. In one year, the production has increased by 1 crore 1 lakh kg and a new record has been set. The reason for this is that most of the success has come from plain tea gardens and small scale farming in the north. Where 1 crore 3 lakh kg of tea was produced in 2020, this time it has been 1 crore 45 lakh kg.
In 2019, the production of 96.069 million kg (9 crore 60 lakh 69 thousand) kg of tea was the highest amount in the history of the tea industry. We were satisfied with that.
Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) Director Mohammad Ali said the country produced 86.394 million kg of tea in 2020. Some 10 million more teas have been produced this year. Despite the corona, such bumper yields of tea have been surpassed by all past records which proves that the capacity of tea industry has increased in the country.
The reason for this is the record production of the crop which is undergoing continuous renovation activities in the tea garden year after year. Production has increased with new seedlings and new plantations. The BTRI director also said that proper leadership and direction of the current chairman of Bangladesh Tea Board has played an important role.
Mentioning the reasons for the success of tea production, the Director of the Project Development Unit (PDU) of the Bangladesh Tea Board AKM Rafiqul Haque said that a number of landmark steps under the guidance of the Chairman of the Tea Board have been instrumental in their success. In order to sustain this production, hand-to-hand training on tea cultivation has been provided in the tea gardens, especially in the northern part of the country, through the Camellia Open Sky School.
As a result of the provision of modern technology, it is possible to produce 41% more tea this year (2021) than last year (2020) only from plain tea gardens and small tea plantations. Through the use of modern technology, the production of plain tea gardens and small tea cultivation has increased by 41 percent this year. Rafiqul Haque said.