44 sick tea gardens to be developed

A project profile was prepared in this regard by the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) at Srimongal here.

The Ministry of Commerce took this decision on principle in a meeting held at the ministry on October 17.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

A five-year programme involving Tk 15 crore 32 lakh was prepared to implement the programme, according to the Project Development Unit office sources.

Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) will give Tk 9 crore 55 lakh 50 thousand as loan and ODA Revolving Fund of the BTB will give Tk 5 crore 23 lakh 63 thousand as subsidy. According to the project profile, Tk 2 crore 70 lakh has been earmarked for factory development.

An amount of Tk 48 lakh 75 thousand subsidy has been estimated for planting, Tk 54 lakh for field development, Tk 87 lakh 17 thousand for block-replanting and Tk 3 crore 97 lakh 23 thousand has been allocated for extension plantation while project implementation cost has been estimated at Tk 4 lakh 20 thousand.

The total allocation of money will be made step by step each year of the project period. According to this, Tk 99 lakh 33 thousand has been allocated for the year 2004, Tk 3 crore 14 lakh 79 thousand will be spent in 2005, Tk 3 crore 53 lakh 78 thousand will be spent in 2006, Tk 95 lakh 31 thousand will be spent in 2008.

The total quantity of land in the 44 sick tea gardens are 16,865 hectares. Only 5,528 hectares of land are now under plantation. Percentage of use of land in the sick tea gardens is only 32.77 per cent. Annual average rate of production in the tea gardens are 530 kg per hectre of land although the average rate of tea production per hectre is 1,220 kilogram of tea.

According to the Project Development Unit officials and tea plantation experts, with implementation of the programme, usage of land in plantation and production of tea will be increased. It will also help raise tea export.