Home ›› 31 May 2023 ›› Nation
Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) has decided to release a new high-yielding variety of tea this year to boost country’s tea production.
According to BTRI sources, for the past few years, the country has been dependent on imports through private companies due to the increased demand for tea that surpass the gross production.
While it is still being exported on a limited scale to some countries, more needs to be imported to meet the domestic demand.
In order to boost production and reduce imports, BTRI is researching the new high-yielding BT-24 variety of tea. Officials expect to release the new variety on National Tea Day this year if everything goes well
BT-1 released in 1966 is the first hybrid variety researched by BTRI. The last released variety BT-23 came out in 2021. Besides researching new high-yielding varieties, BTRI is working on developing better food-grade packaging for tea.
BTB sources further said the consumption of tea in the country has increased, and along with the import the country has also maintained the continuity of the export of tea.
Tea is exported to a comparatively lesser extent by the government. According to BTRI sources, green tea is exported to Pakistan and black tea to Iran.
Moreover, BTRI researcher Dr Ismail Hossain said recently that 2,000 kg of Orthodox tea will be exported to London for the first time. The researcher also said that everything has been set for that purpose.
Orthodox tea refers to loose-leaf tea produced using traditional methods. The special feature of this tea is that it can be served without straining, which is a very expensive and special quality tea. He also said that there is a huge demand for this tea abroad.
BTRI Director Dr Rafiqul Islam said BTB is currently busy planning for the occasion of National Tea Day on June 4.
“The National Tea Award will be added to the fold on that day this year. Moreover, we are very optimistic about the new variety of tea BT-24. This variety yields in less time,” he said, adding that they research new varieties keeping the current climate in mind.
Demand vs supply
According to the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB), the demand for tea in the country was 90.45 million kg in 2018, but it increased to 95.20 million kg in 2019. And in 2020 the demand increased further and stood at 100.20 million kg of tea. According to this data, the yearly demand has increased by 5.25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the country produced 82.13 million kg of tea in 2018, which was 96.07 in 2019, 86.39 in 2020, 96.51 in 2021, 93.83 in 2022 and 2.46 million kg of tea till March 2023. According to this data, production has increased by 14.24 per cent from 2018 to 2022.
On the other hand, even though the production of tea in the country is gradually increasing, due to the increasing demand within the country, various private companies have to import large quantities of tea from abroad.
The amount of imports was 6.50 million kg in 2018, 2.73 million kg in 2019, 0.68 million kg in 2020, 0.74 million kg in 2021 and lastly in 2022 it was 1.00 million kg of tea. However, in terms of quality, the quality of domestic tea is better compared to imported tea. According to this data, imports have decreased by 84.61 per cent from 2018 to 2022.
The country exported 0.65 million kg of tea in 2018, 0.6 million kg in 2019, 2.17 million kg in 2020, 0.68 million kg in 2021 and 0.78 million kg in 2022. The country last exported 0.18 million kg of tea till March 2023. According to this data, exports have increased by 20 per cent from 2018 to 2022.
