How to improvement is necessary in tea Sector in Bangladesh.

 

 Introduction:                     

Most of the people of Bangladesh start their morning by taking a cup of tea. It is a regular picture for most of the families in our country. We  also notice that offering a cup of tea is a common courtesy to a guest in Bangladeshi culture. A cup of tea carries different importance  to people from different levels of society. Some people Who are health conscious think of having green tea while an overweight person too can consider drinking green tea to lose weight. A number of  people who have caught a cold feel a ginger or turmeric tea would be the remedy. An executive always  wants a cup of premium black tea when s/he is stressed after a long meeting. It is not only difficult to satisfy people from different ages, cultures and tastes, with a certain kind of tea, but almost impossible. Change in demands of peoples is driven by health-consciousness, improved purchasing power and lifestyle. Considering these aspects, tea growers and manufacturers have moved to value addition of tea by introducing a set of premium brands of tea, to satisfy the consumers’ taste. 

 History:

   Historically, Bengal was the terminus of the Tea Horse Road connecting the subcontinent with  China's early tea-growing regions in Yunnan. Atisa is regarded as one of the earliest Bengali drinkers of tea.

Black tea cultivation was introduced in Bengal and Assam during the British Empire, particularly in Assam's Sylhet district. In 1834, Robert Bruce discovered tea plants in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and other hilly areas in the northeast. This led to the Assam Tea Company being established in 1839 and many businessmen were actively involved with this company such as Haji Mohammed Hashim, Dwarkanath Tagore and Mutty Lall Seal. The company was associated with Calcutta's Bengal Tea Association. European traders established the first subcontinental tea gardens in the port city of Chittagong in 1840, when plantations were set up beside the Chittagong Club using Chinese tea plants from the Calcutta Botanical GardenThe first home-grown tea was made and tasted near the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong in 1843. Commercial cultivation of tea began in the Mulnicherra Estate in Sylhet in 1857.] The Surma River Valley in the Sylhet region emerged as the center of tea cultivation in Eastern Bengal. also flourished in Lower Tippera (modern Comilla) and Panchagarh which is in North Bengal. Panchagarh is the only third tea zone in Bangladesh and the most demanded teas are cultivated here.

Tea was a major export of British Bengal. The Assam Bengal Railway served as a lifeline for the industry, transporting tea from growers in the Surma and Brahmaputra Valleys to exporters in the Port of Chittagong. Syed Abdul Majid was a very notable pioneer in the native tea industry.[2]In the early twentieth century, many local entrepreneurs also started founding their own companies such as Syed Abdul Majid, Nawab Ali Amjad Khan, Muhammad Bakht Majumdar, Ghulam Rabbani, Syed Ali Akbar Khandakar, Abdur Rasheed Choudhury and Karim Bakhsh.

The Chittagong Tea Auction was established in 1949 by British and Australian traders. British companies such as James Finlay and Duncan Brothers once dominated the industry.[1] The Ispahani family also became a highly prominent player in the industry.

Tea sector In Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is an important tea-producing country. It is the 10th largest tea producer in the world. Today there are 164 tea gardens in Bangladesh located in seven districts. Tea is cultivated on 115,757 hectares of land. A total of 359,085 people live in tea garden areas, including 89,812 registered workers and 19,592 casual workers working in the tea gardens. But its tea industry dates back to British rule, when the East India Company initiated the tea trade in the hills of the Sylhet region.[3]It can not change  it’s rule up to date. Now a days our country face different types of problem in this sector.

Weather to grow tea: In its wild state, tea grows best in regions which enjoy a warm, humid climate with a rainfall measuring at least 100 centimeters a year. Ideally, it likes deep, light, acidic and well-drained soil. Given these conditions, tea will grow in areas from sea level up to altitudes as high as 2,100 meters above sea level.

 Tea garden in Bangladesh: Of these gardens, 135 are in Sylhet division and 23 are                in Chittagong division, and the newly developed 4 gardens belong to Rangpur division. The tea estates in Bangladesh annually produce about 59 million kg of tea. Malnichhera Tea Garden is not only the largest and first established tea garden in Bangladesh, but also in the subcontinent. It was established by Lord Hurdson in 1849 on 1500 acres of land. The tea garden is located a short distance from Sylhet International Airport.In East Pakistan, tea was only cultivated in “Surma Valley” in Sylhet district and ‘Halda Valley’ in Chittagong district. During the tenure of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the then Chairman of the Tea Board from 1957 to 1958, the establishment of the head office of the Tea Board in the Motijheel area of ​​Dhaka began. When the country’s tea gardens were destroyed during the war in 1971, the abandoned tea gardens were restored by forming the “Bangladesh Tea Industries Management Committee” or “BTIMC” after independence. In 1973, Bangladesh Tea Research Station was fully converted into a Tea Research Institute, known as Bangladesh Tea Research Institute or BTRI. According to the Bangladesh Tea Board,[4] there are 167 commercial tea estates and tea gardens in Bangladesh. The total area of ​​these tea estates and tea gardens is 2,79,507 acres (2,79,506.88), where an average of 6 crores 74 lakh kg of tea is produced annually. In 2021, Bangladesh produced the highest ever nine crores, 65 lac kg of tea. In the same year, Bangladesh Globally exported 680,000 kg of tea and earned $180.57 million. Although the amount of internal consumption compared to tea produced in 2021 is unknown, the amount of consumption in 2019 was nine crores fifty-two lac (9,52,00,000) kg, which is increasing at an average rate of 4.61 percent per annum. tea, Bangladesh’s second-largest cash crop after jute, contributing about 1 percent to Bangladesh’s GDP. Currently, there are five types of tea produced in Bangladesh: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Instant Tea, and White Tea. According to the Bangladesh Tea Board [5] Abul Khair Consumer Products Ltd is in the top position among the six leading companies in Bangladesh in tea exports. In addition, Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate Ltd., Halda Valley Food & Beverage Ltd., and M.M. Ispahani Limited are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, and Meghna Tea Company is fifth, and The Consolidated Tea & Lands Co. (BD) Ltd is at sixth position.[5]

Reason Behind Improvement: There are some reasons for the progress of the tea sectors. Those are given below:

 

Favorable Environment

The warm and humid climate of Bangladesh is quite favorable for tea production. In this situation tea plants grow faster when there is more or less rain throughout the year. As a result, the most suitable place for tea cultivation is in hilly areas. Therefore, Bangladesh’s four main hilly regions, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, and Chittagong, have the highest tea production. In this regard, the average rainfall in Bangladesh is 203 cm per year, and the average temperature in the country is 26.01 degrees Celsius, making it suitable for tea production. As the environment and climate of Bangladesh are favorable for tea production, besides increasing the country’s tea production, the tea industry is also constantly growing.

Rising Domestic Tea Consumption

At the present time the income of the people of Bangladesh has increased and changed the preferences of the consumer . On the other hand the number of middle-class and upper-middle-class people is growing in Bangladesh. As a result, the per capita tea consumption of the people of Bangladesh has reached more than 580 grams, which used to be only 100 grams. According to the Bangladesh Tea Board, in 2019, 99% of the tea produced in Bangladesh was consumed locally. However, according to a source, in 2021, 6 lakh 256 thousand kg of tea was imported as well. [6] In this regard, the changing preferences and purchasing power raising awareness among the people about different health benefits of different types of tea, the domestic consumption of tea has also increased, which is one of the reasons for the growth of the tea industry in Bangladesh.

Government Support

Nowadays The Government of Bangladesh has taken various plans and initiatives to maintain the growth of the tea industry in Bangladesh. As a result, according to the Bangladesh Tea Board,[7] Bangladesh was able to export more than 2.1 million kg (21,70,000) of tea in 2020, and the Bangladesh government intends to increase this to 10 million kilograms by 2025. Bangladesh Tea Board Chairman Major General Md. Ashraful Islam said about the expansion of the tea industry,[8] “The government is helping to develop tea state in areas where tea has never been produced before. "IN addition to the Chattagram Hill Track Area, many projects are being implemented in the country’s northern districts for developing new tea estate.

Necessary to Improvement

There are some steps that should be taken for getting a better result. And to take this sector to the top position in the world .Those are given below: 1.To improve the condition of the worker who works in the garden permanently or temporary. They lead very inhuman lives. Tea workers are deprived of their fundamental rights. In this sense, we can say that they are slaves. So it is very essential to change the living condition of the workers. 2.To increase the wages of the workers. According to a survey conducted by TIB, a tea worker gets Tk120 as daily wages as per the latest agreement between tea workers and garden owners. Their monthly earnings total maximumly Tk5,231 with all allowances included, which is lower than any other sector in Bangladesh. In this regard it plays a significant role to increase the wages of tea workers. 3.To give some fundamental rights .In a survey found that none of the gardens pay double for overtime, even though this is stipulated in a provision of labor law.In addition, 28 out of 64 tea gardens do not pay temporary workers the same wages as permanent workers. Temporary workers earn Tk50-75 when a worker is entitled Tk85.In addition, it is necessary for tea worker to give some fundamental rights according to labour law. 4.To take some steps by the government for the improvement of tea workers. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed tea estate owners to raise the daily wage of tea workers to Tk 170 from Tk 120.[9] This is a little satellite for tea workers. Conclusion

Although Tea gardens were established during the British period and run using slave labour, and now it essential for change in the pattern.However, compared to other labor sectors, access to fundamental rights is not satisfactory for tea workers.

If they are given all the fundamentals, they will work and do well and the country will improve a lot. Nowadays the demand of organic and value added tea is increasing around the world, which opens a new avenue for Bangladeshi producers. The European Union, US, Middle East and China are the potential markets for Bangladesh. “In selecting a tea brand from export markets, retailers are choosing a country where they get organic and premium quality tea. We are producing customized organic and premium tea considering their demand.