Tea export can’t keep pace with production: Munshi

Tea export from Bangladesh has not increased keeping pace with the use and production of tea in the country, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said today.

The economic condition of Bangladeshi people has improved, which has fuelled tea consumption here, the minister said.

The government has taken special initiatives to increase tea production and researches are being done to innovate new and improved varieties of tea leaves, he said.

The minister spoke at a press briefing in the conference room of the commerce ministry in Dhaka on the eve of the National Tea Day, which will be observed countrywide on June 4.

There are now 167 large tea gardens in the country and more than 8,000 small tea gardens.

Bangladesh has beat its record in tea production as a total of 96.50 million kilogrammes (kgs) of the plant were produced by 167 farms across the country in 2021.

This is the highest annual yield on record, eclipsing 2020's harvest by a good 10.111 million kgs, according to officials of the Bangladesh Tea Board.

The previous highest annual production came in 2019, when a record 96.069 million kgs of tea was produced.