Some 38 tea gardens in the country have become sick and six others arc out of production because of financial constraints and output falls, tea Industry sources said.

Besides, nine such gardens may soon be classified as sick because of their overdue loans, productivity loss, low rate of land use. poor management and failure in implementation of the development programmes, sources said, quoting a report of the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB).

There are 158 tea estates in the country with an average annual production of 50 million kg. Tea exports fetch about Tk 200 crore annually for Bangladesh.

The six closed down tea estates are Bimalanagar, Nirala, Lakshmipur. Dona, Islam and Patia. BTB is now trying to sell out Patia tea estate through open tender while it has come up with a proposal to hand over Islam tea estate to Chittagong Cantonment.

Tea production also suffered due to ownership conflicts in some tea estates like Khadim. Burjan. Jaflong and Star in Sylhet; Nandarani and Sree Govindapur In Moulvibazar; and Andarmanik and Haldavelly in Chittagong.

In general terms, the gardens which fall to attain a national production average 1150 kg per hectare are considered as losing concerns while the ones with production capacity of as low as 400 kg or less are regarded as sick.

The Board sources attributed the sickening of the gardens to trickling foreign assistance, lesser access to credit facilities, aging of tea plants and deteriorating law and order situation.

BTB recommended that the lease period for the sick gardens should be curtailed to 10 years instead of 35 years.

Bangladeshiyo Cha Sangshad (BCS), the apex body of tea garden owners, has recently sought Tk 20 crore soft loan from the government to revamp the industry. Sources said that the tea estates managed under proprietary system were suffering the most.

According to official statistics, individual owners run the highest numbers of tea estates — 61 Ln total — but their contribution to the country's aggregate tea production is only 11 per cent. On the other hand, the local private companies own 55 estates and contribute 25 per cent to the national tea output volume.

In sharp contrast, the tea companies incorporated in the United Kingdom (commonly known as Sterling Companies) own 26 tea estates, but account for 49 per cent to the total national production.

National Tea Company (NTC), a public limited company, operates 13 estates and contributes 10 to 12 per cent to the national volume of production. Meanwhile, the state-run Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) runs three estates and contributes three per cent to gross production.

Some representatives of small tea gardens under proprietary system criticised the BTB move to take a Tk 9 crore new tea plantation project in Panchagar, ignoring the sick garden owners' longstanding plea for soft loans to revamp their limping concerns.

"In Sri Lanka, there's an authority to look into the affairs of small gardens. I think the government should take rehabilitation schemes for the sick gardens," said Zeba Rasheed Chowdhury. Vice Chairperson of BCS.

Chowdhury said that after the Liberation War. small gardens lost export markets and their loans piled up in the absence of any preferential treatment in getting bank loans.

Said another aggrieved tea estate owner. "Four task forces and committees were formed in the last 28 years, the last one being in 1998, but all their recommendations somehow got shelved by the concerned ministries."

Against this backdrop. BCS Chairman AQI Chowdhury recently submitted a memorandum to Finance Minister SAMS Klbria. Among many other things, the BCS pleaded for freezing of all overdue Ioans up to December 31. 1999 into an interest-free block account for a period of five years and subsequently reschedule these for repayment in 10 equal installments.

The latest BTB committee report on sick gardens also identified the overdue bank loans as a main obstacle to their thriving.

Out of the 38 sick gardens, the BTB report said, 14 badly-affected gardens owed over Tk 20 crore to the banking system. Some gardens had already lost their borrowing capacity, it added.

Talking to The Daily Star. BTB Chairman Danlal Islam expressed concerns at the fall in export earnings from tea. He said that the country's export earnings from the sector dipped to $19.93 million in 1999 from $36.18 million in 1998 and $40 million in 1997.

Official sources said that the average tea yield in Bangladesh is only 1150 kg per hectare, compared to 1700 kg tn India.

Fall in productivity is attributed to the aging of tea plants and non-introduction of new clones adequately. At least 20 per cent of the existing plants are as old as 60 years, said sources.

Only 35 per cent of tea plantation areas have so far come under high-yielding tea clones while the rest are still being planted under the traditional seed planting system.

The garden owners complained about erratic power supply and deterioration in law and order as the main problems faced by the Industry. Mushroom growth of sawmills and brickfields in tea garden areas resulted in wholesale felling of the shade-trees, which protect the plants from sunlight.