Ministry sits on Tk 5.7 cr herbal garden project

The 'central' nursery of herbal plants at Srimongol raised by Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI). It was set up with a view to supplying saplings to gardens under BTB's proposed project. PHOTO: STAR

There are around 1,14000 hectares of land under tea gardens in the country, of which only 54000 hectares are under tea plantation. Excluding the areas for factories, staff and labour quarters, clinics, schools and other establishments, about 5000 hectares now unutilised can be made available for raising gardens of herbal and aeromatic plants, according to BTB sources.

They said, the Tk 5. 17 crore project was submitted to the ministry in October last year. It included a Tk 3.25 crore plan for setting up two processing plants.

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The project was submitted after detailed discussions with garden owners, scientists and some herbal medicine companies at several workshops. A feasibility study was also conducted by the BTB prior to the discussions.

Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) agreed to finance the project with loans on nine percent interest, the sources said.

BTB sources said their planned project includes raising 550 species of herbal plants and trees in the gardens.

Bangladesh now imports about 58 lakh tonnes of herbal raw materials worth about Tk 300 crore every year to meet the demand of 215 Unani, 204 Ayurvadic and 77 homeopathic medicine manufacturing companies and other small units using herbal plants as main raw-materials.

Much of the demand could be met if the fallow lands of tea gardens could be brought under plantation of herbal and aeromatic plants, they said.

The project was prepared following a call by the Prime Minister to raise such gardens in the country.

The BTB's target is to bring 1150 hectares under cultivation in the initial stage. As per the plan, short duration (one year) plants will be grown on 180 hectares, medium duration (3 years) plants on 300 hectares and long time (6 years) herbal plants will be grown on 670 hectares of land.

Herbal plants and trees, once plentiful in the country are gradually disappearing. At least 160 species of such plants are extinct now, they said.

The BTB has also proposed to create facilities for marketing of the herbal raw materials.

Authorities of the tea gardens will implement the project and BTB will monitor and extend technical support.

The sources said the BTB survey found that the soil of tea gardens in different areas of the country are suitabele for producing herbal plants.

With the plan in view, BTB started two 'central nurseries' of herbal plants and trees, one at the Mathiura Tea Estate in Moulvibazar and the other at the Udalia Tea Estate in Chittagong.

But as the fate of the main project has become uncertain, these nurseries are now getting little attention, they said.

The Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) at Srimangal has set up two nurseries with 50,000 herbal saplings. Former commerce minister Ameer Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the nurseries on August 2003.

Besides, 10 tea gardens in Moulvibazar district, including Balishira, Patrokhola, Satgaon, Dinarpur and M R Khan, have planted saplings of herbal plants in unutilised lands on their own initiative. This initiative will ultimately bear no fruit because setting up of the proposed processing plants have become uncertain, they said.